Bloom of the Red Lotus
by AllRoadsLeadTo
Summary: Korra has spent her life being raised by the Red Lotus, a secret society dedicated to balance and freedom. Now on verge of adulthood, she has decided to go into the world with two of her trusted mentors, Ghazan and Ming-Hua. However, not everything is as it seems for the young Avatar, and her arrival in the city does not go unnoticed by the powerful figures she was taught to fear.
1. Part 1: Seeding

_**Bloom of the Red Lotus (Legend of Korra)**_

**Part 1: Seeding**

+BotRL+

A/N: This idea struck me, let me know what you think. I hope I got the characterizations at least close. Disaster awaits.

+BotRL+

Korra panted as she ran through the caves. The green light of the crystals cast everything in an almost sickly light and made everything almost monochromatic. She didn't see or hear anyone, but that didn't mean she was alone. She was, after all, being hunted.

Her clothes were sweaty and slightly scorched, signs of what she'd already been through. Korra wasn't the type to just give up, but she knew that she was reaching the end of her limits. All she needed was a moment to think, to find a solution.

She didn't get that chance. The cave ceiling above her started to glow red and magma started to leak through crevices. Korra leapt forward, using earthbending to launch herself even farther, just barely avoiding the wave of magma as it collapsed into the tunnel. She rolled to a stop and thrust towards the tide of magma rolling towards her, stopping its advance.

In the center of the magma, a small island solidified and a long-haired figure landed upon it. It was a man in what looked like Earth Kingdom style clothing, the red light of the magma making his clothing's green and white coloring apparent. The man smirked at Korra. "You're not getting away, Korra."

Korra huffed and retorted, "Funny, I was just about to say to same thing, Ghazan."

"Big words girl, but this is it," Ghazan said before launching a large blast of magma at Korra.

Diving to the side, Korra swept her right hand to the side and knocked the blast of magma into the wall before thrusting her left hand towards Ghazan, sending a stream of fire towards him. He smirked and sent a flick of magma to interrupt her attack.

"Is that all –" he said before he heard a series of pops. He turned his head to the side and saw a spark arcing around the cloud of fire and the stream of magma he'd used to block the fire. He was surprised, but as an expert bender and veteran combatant he reacted on instinct, blocking the spark before it could slip completely past his bending guard. Unfortunately for him it was too close and the resulting explosion sent him tumbling from his small island and towards the magma.

In the short flight towards the molten rock, he worked to solidify a landing, but Korra was also bending there as well. The magma did solidify, but into a boulder which hit him hard due to its suddenness and sent him flying into the path of another explosion.

Ghazan went tumbling through the air and landed hard on the far side of the molten rock from Korra, who quickly made a path for herself so she could pursue.

Ghazan landed in a crouch and snapped rocks and crystals at Korra, but she rushed through them, forming waterbending tentacles anchored at her shoulders and using them to knock away Ghazan's attacks. He decided to switch tack and send the floor underneath Korra flying upwards, but she managed to use the tentacles to anchor heself upon the tunnel's ceiling and pull herself out of the way and directly above Ghazan.

He immediately set to pulling a large boulder out of the floor and hurling it at her, but using her waterbending and earthbending she managed to flow around Ghazan's attack and slam into him with her water tentacles leading, knocking him to the floor. Before he could bend himself out of the situation, Korra then used her water to lift him up and freeze him in place, effectively cutting off his ability to bend.

Korra smirked and folded her arms as her water tentacles held Ghazan upside down in front of her. "You were saying?"

Ghazan laughed, "Fair enough, Korra. You've definitely learned a lot." He started shivering. "Now, if you wouldn't mind letting me out?"

"Sure thing," Korra told him. She shattered the ice, transforming it back into water and sending into the water pouches on her back and belt.

Ghazan hit the cavern floor head first and cried out in pain as he collapsed in a pile. He sat up and rubbed his head. "You could have set me down."

Korra nodded and grinned as she reach out a hand towards him. "Yeah, I could have. Come on, I want to tell the others how badly I beat you."

Ghazan scoffed as he took Korra's hand and let her pull him to his feet. "Please, you only got lucky."

"You can tell yourself that if it makes you feel better," Korra replied loftily as they started walking back to the Commons.

The Red Lotus base was set within a winding cave system in the mountains relatively near the Northern Air Temple. It was close enough that had there been any air benders at the temple, they could have reached the base in less than a day. However, it was well hidden in a remote area, so it was extremely unlikely to be found, especially with the current dearth of air benders around the world.

The Commons was a large cave and several connected rooms where couches, tables, bookshelves and more were set up for recreation and relaxation for the members of the Red Lotus. There was even a speaker system connected to the base's radio receiver so that people in the Commons could listen to what was being played, though there were the occasional fights over what to listen to. Though the secret society was small with less than a hundred members across the world, those stationed at this, the most important base of the Red Lotus, were all capable and well treated as they had taken the past twenty years to properly furbish the place.

As Korra and Ghazan entered the Commons they saw the clash of styles from across the world resulting from the various members of the anarchist society bringing their own furniture and decorations over the years. The reds of Fire Nation met the greens, yellows and browns of the Earth Kingdom as well as the blues and whites of traditional Water Tribe decorations while the black and red symbol of the Red Lotus presided over all from its position at top of the northern wall of the main hall of the Commons. Eight members clustered around a Pai Sho game and seemed to be casually watching the match as they chatted. Other members were scattered about the Commons doing a variety of things as playful jazz came from the speakers.

Korra looked towards the far end of the main hall and saw P'Li sitting on a couch near the doors to the kitchen. While Korra couldn't see what P'Li was doing from her current angle, she did have a pretty good idea. Korra looked to Ghazan and nodded towards P'Li. "Come on, P'Li is over there."

They made their way across the main hall, but stopped when one of the Red Lotus watching the game of Pai Sho called out a greeting. "Korra, Ghazan ,are you finished demolishing the caves already?"

Korra ginned and waved back at the man. "That's right Jian, I just got through thrashing Ghazan here."

"She got lucky," Ghazan elaborated.

Jian laughed. "Well, 'getting lucking' against one of you five is no mean feat. Korra has a right to be proud, Avatar or not."

Korra's smiled even more. "Thanks Jian!"

Jian waved her off with a smile of his own. "It's nothing, now why don't you go tell P'Li like I know you're dying to."

"Alright, see you later," Korra said sheepishly before going as some of the Red Lotus sitting with Jian chuckled and said their own congratulations.

Korra and Ghazan made their way across the Commons and towards P'Li, occasionally exchanging greetings with other members of the Red Lotus as they passed. Korra had spent most her life here and in wilderness of the surrounding mountains, and recognized all of the Red Lotus members stationed there by name. So when she told them about how she had defeated one of the Five, they shared her excitement and congratulated her on her increasing mastery of bending. Whenever she told another member of her victory, Ghazan bore it with bemused good humor while adding in his own commentary on how she 'only got lucky.'

Eventually the two reached where P'Li was sitting on a Fire Nation couch, cradling something in her arms. Korra slipped over the couch and sat next to P'Li. "Hi Aunt P'Li," Korra said before turning to the bundle in P'Li's arms and saying, "Hi, Iruka." The infant Iruka sleepily looked back at Korra for a moment before closing his eyes again.

P'Li looked up at Korra and raised an eyebrow. "You look like you're in a good mood."

Korra grinned. "Yeah, I just beat Ghazan. He tried to ambush me but I turned it around and destroyed him."

P'Li glanced at Ghazan who had walked around the couch to sit on a stool in front of them. He shrugged and said, "She's improved enough to make it fun."

P'Li smiled. "I'm glad you've finally beaten him. Someone needed to teach him a lesson in humility."

Ghazan cried out "Hey!"

Korra laughed. "Don't worry Aunt P'Li, I'll make sure that he thoroughly learns that lesson."

"I'm the teacher, so I think it'll be you who learns the lesson," Ghazan replied.

"You mean like today?" Korra asked.

"Well, to beat him you had to learn something," P'Li rationalized.

"I suppose I could stand more of those kinds of lessons," Korra replied.

Ghazan bared his teeth in a predatory grin, "I'm afraid the next one won't been like that. It'll be the kind where you lose."

Korra returned his smile. "We'll see about that, Ghazan."

P'Li sighed. "Don't fight in the Commons."

Korra looked down at the floor before looking back at P'Li. "I wasn't going to start a fight here," she protested.

"Uh huh," P'Li replied skeptically, "Why don't you both get something to eat? Its lunch time anyways."

Ghazan and Korra nodded and stood to head to the kitchen. "Alright, I can always thrash Ghazan later," Korra agreed, causing Ghazan to scoff.

Ghazan turned to P'Li while Korra started walking towards the nearby kitchen door. "I'll make sure she eats some proper food instead of getting into the sweets again."

Korra stopped and turned back to them. "[i]I'm[/i] the one who got into the sweets? I seem to recall it was a certain lavabender."

Ghazan shrugged. "Well, you are one."

P'Li smiled and shook her head at Korra's exasperation. "Behave you two, or neither of you get into the sweets. You know we don't get shipments of those often." P'li paused for a moment, musing. "Though I suppose Korra could have one for winning today, after her meal that is."

Korra pumped her fist and exclaimed, "Yes!"

Ghazan turned to P'Li, dismayed. "What, she gets one and I don't?"

"She accomplished something today, you didn't," P'Li explained.

Ghazan huffed and stalked after Korra as she went off to get something to eat from the kitchen.

Watching them go, P'Li shook her head. Korra was already starting to match one of them at just fifteen years old. Even if she hadn't yet mastered airbending, how much more would the Avatar improve in the three years left until Harmonic Convergence?

+BotRL+

Zaheer walked along the forested mountain path. Up ahead he saw Korra in the level clearing and practicing with her sky bison. While none of the Red Lotus were air benders, Zaheer did have many copies of the writings of the ancient airbending master Laghima, and he had suggested to Korra that she try to learn airbending the way many of the most ancient airbenders had, from the sky bison. She tried, and had learned a great deal of Laghima's philosophy, but she ended up sending most of her time playing with the sky bison Xia.

He approached the two as Korra focused and sent some pine needles as twigs swirling though the air on a gust of wind. Zaheer clapped, startling Korra. "Good job Korra, I see you've finally figured out how to airbend while I was away."

Korra turned and ran up to him, moving faster than before as her awakened airbending assisted her movements. "Uncle Zaheer!" She wrapped him in a hug and began interrogating him, "It's been months! What took you so long!?"

Zaheer returned her embrace and answered her question. "I had to convince the Equalists I was not a spy for the Republic, the Queen or the White Lotus and that I could be trusted. That wasn't easy without revealing my connections. It was worth it, especially since I managed to liberate some of the Queen's political prisoners and helped arm the people against her agents."

"You could have contacted us," Korra said, pouting.

Zaheer shook his head. "Amon is paranoid, especially about benders. I couldn't take the chance that he would find out about my connections and draw the wrong, or right, conclusion. The Equalists are too useful as potential allies to make an enemy out of Amon at this stage."

Korra sighed and stepped back. "I suppose that makes sense, but why do we need to work with him at all if he's like that?"

"He has organized the Equalists into an influential and powerful group that will soon be capable of overthrowing the Republic. He is a madman dedicated to throwing the world further out of balance by eliminating bending, but he is charismatic organizer. Eliminating him would throw the movement into chaos and they would have no chance of overthrowing the Republic."

Korra frowned. "Couldn't we replace him with someone who understands that bending is an important part of the world and is willing to fight for the people?"

Zaheer nodded. "It would take someone both charismatic and skilled to depose Amon and then convince the more fanatical members that not all benders are bad."

Korra tilted her head to the side and asked, "Like the nonbender good enough to take on any bender alive?"

"I'm not that good," Zaheer replied. "But yes, that's the plan."

"It's a good plan, but I still think only a master would have chance against you," Korra said, leaving out the fact that secretly believed that there were only four such 'masters,' and all of them were in Red Lotus.

"I've been at this a long time," Zaheer agreed. "However, he has allegedly defeated benders himself. I don't like taking unnecessary chances if I can avoid it and with an operation this delicate I need to be slow and careful with how I handle this."

Korra nodded in understanding. "That makes sense, even though you'd beat him in a fight, you need to be able to make sure the Equalists listen to you afterwards."

Zaheer nodded, a slight smile crossing is face. "I see you've been paying attention to your lessons, good."

Korra scoffed. "Of course I have." She paused for a moment before asking, "What is it like…out there?"

Zaheer sighed. "It's a dangerous place full of people who want power over others for its own sake, who don't care about freedom or about the people they chain to their wills, but it is also full of wonders old and new." He silently looked at her for a brief moment. "You want to go out there, don't you?"

Korra looked sheepish for a moment before gathering her resolve. "Yes, I know it's dangerous out there, but I can fight any of you and I can use all of the elements, plus the techniques everyone has taught me. I can take care of myself and I want to help, to see the world now. I don't want to wait here until Harmonic Convergence."

"Violence is not the only threat you will have to worry about Korra, there are also lies and deceit, poison in the night. The worst threats of the ones you never see coming and as the Avatar they will fear your power and either seek to bend you to their will or end your threat."

Korra looked uncertain for a moment before her face took on a resolute cast. "I know, but you and others have taught me everything I know and I can handle it. I promise."

"They will do everything in their power to control the Avatar, and even with everything you've learned it would be dangerous for you to act so openly." Zaheer sighed again and shook his head. "But we are doing all of this for the sake of personal freedom. If you must go, then at least let Ming-Hua and Ghazan guide you as I will be undercover and P'Li cannot leave right now."

Korra grinned and pulled Zaheer into a hug tight enough to make it hard for him to breathe. "Thank you, Uncle Zee! This will be awesome!"

+BotRL+

Korra stood at the main entrance to the Red Lotus base that she had called home for almost all of the life she could remember. She had already said good bye to Jian and the others, and now only the sentries, the Five, little Iruka, and Korra's visiting metalbending teacher Aiwei were present. P'Li led Iruka closer to Korra and the toddler wrapped his arms around Korra's leg. She ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Good bye Korra, and good luck in Republic City. Make sure to have fun and stay safe," P'Li told her.

"As if those last two aren't mutually exclusive," Ghazan remarked.

"I will," Korra promised, ignoring Ghazan's comment.

"Good," P'Li said before hugging Korra for a moment. Then she released Korra and stepped back, taking Iruka with her.

"I wanna go with Big Sis!" Iruka protested.

"I'll take you with me when you're older, Iruka," Korra assured him.

As P'Li quieted Iruka, Aiwei spoke up, "I know that Zaheer will be taking a separate route to avoid suspicion, but are we taking Xia with us to Republic City? That will be hard to hide no matter what we do."

Korra shook her head. "I want too, but don't you think it would be a bit conspicuous?"

"They aren't exactly discreet," Ming-Hua agreed.

"It would make our traveling arrangements simpler," Ghazan commented.

"In exchange for unwanted attention," Zaheer replied, "They are endangered after all. And where would you keep him anyway?"

Ghazan shrugged. "With the other sky bison?"

Everyone except Iruka looked at him incredulously.

Unalaq spoke up then. "I could convince Tarrlok to keep it in the Northern Water Tribe compound, but that doesn't eliminate the attention factor, it would actually increase it. I think it is best if Korra here leaves her bison behind, even if he is her animal companion."

"That's why I already said good bye to him," Korra said. "If I'm going to hide my bending as much as possible, then bringing Xia with us will just make that harder."

"A wise choice," Aiwei said. "And you should consider hiding your third eye tattoo, at least for the time being."

Korra touched her hand to the tattoo focus for her explosion bending. "Aunt P'Li already mentioned that. It sounds like a good idea, though I think it's likely I'll end up pretending to be a firebender because of the tattoo."

"Either way, a bandanna covering the tattoo would make you less conspicuous," Ming-Hua noted, "not that I've had much chance to be inconspicuous."

P'Li stepped forward again, holding out a piece of light red-orange cloth. "I nearly forgot, you can use this to cover up your third eye."

Korra took the bandanna with a smile and tied around the top of her head to cover her tattoo. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Korra," P'Li reassured her. "Now take care."

"I will," Korra said reassuringly before she turned and left for Republic City.

+BotRL+

Korra was taken aback by how crowded the city was. She'd never seen so many people in one place before, especially strangers, not even in the few times when everyone in the base had gathered in the Commons for an announcement or an important meeting.

The streets of Republic City were packed with people. She was certain that she would have bumped into someone by now if it wasn't for the small bubble that had formed around Ghazan and Ming-Hua. Korra wasn't really sure why, perhaps they somehow sensed how powerful the two were. Regardless, they moved through the port and deeper into the city as Aiwei separated to continue back to Zaofu.

Korra took pleasure in examining every shop window that caught her interest, looking at shop windows and then entering some to look around. Their progress was slow, but Korra thoroughly enjoyed the experience of exploring the city and stopping for lunch at a small hole in the wall noodle restaurant.

In the midafternoon, the three were walking along a relatively less crowded side street when there was a snap and a scream from above. Korra looked up and saw a metal scaffold which was hanging dangerously from one side as something had caused the ropes on the other side to break. The window washer that had been in the scaffold was now hanging onto the railing by one hand over what Korra estimated was a ten story drop. The man was screaming for help in his panic and already the crowd was murmuring.

Reacting on instinct, Korra launched herself at the wall of the building using airbending and began to race of the wall, using the wind to propel her. Even with the speed granted by airbending, it was painfully slow to reach the scaffold, but Korra wasn't sure what else to do. She didn't have her metalbending cables with her, they were actually in Ghazan's pack, water tentacles wouldn't appreciably speed her up, and as far as she could tell an explosion wouldn't help. Maybe she could –

The window washer's hand slipped and the crowd gasped.

Korra crouched against the wall and launched herself off of it with a fierce gale wind, and pushed the window washer towards her with another gust of air.

Korra managed to grab ahold of the window washer's shirt with one hand as they began to arc downward towards the street.

"Hold on!" she ordered the man and pushed herself further over the street with another blast of air. As they began arcing down again, Korra aimed the two of them for a window on instinct, and then smashing it with another blast of gale wind before hitting it so that the two flew through the open space and landed with a crash in an office building.

Korra groaned and picked herself up. The man was on the ground, holding his left hand where it had been cut by the shattered glass.

"Sorry about that," she said.

He looked up at her in momentary confusion. "What? Oh, no it's nothing. Thank you for saving my life!"

"Alright, let's get you to a doctor then," Korra said.

"Thanks," the man said again as Korra helped him to his feet. As they walked to the stairs, the people filling the office they had crashed into all looked on with surprise and confusion, but no one stopped them. Eventually the two found a stairwell headed down to the ground level.

As they walked down the stairs and reached a landing, the window washer looked at her. "Hey, um, I don't think I got your name, mine's Bolin," he said, holding out a hand for her to shake.

Korra smiled and shifted how she held him so she could take his hand. "Right, sorry for forgetting to introduce myself," she said. "You can call me Kya," she continued, using the alias that Ming-Hua had suggested.

"No problem, it's nice to meet you – given the circumstances that is," Bolin replied.

"I don't think I'd like to meet people like this either," Korra replied as they continued down.

+BotRL+

In the lobby Ming-Hua, Ghazan and several people in dark uniforms with metal armor awaited the two, with a curious crowd watching from behind.

One of the metal armored people stepped forward; he was of medium height with a stern face. "Are you the airbender?" he asked Korra.

Korra nervously nodded, uncertain about the revelation for a moment before relaxing. She was a hero who had just saved a person's after all. Even if airbenders were incredibly rare now and they suspected her of being the Avatar, it wasn't likely that they'd do anything, right?

Becoming more confident, she walked Bolin forward. "Yes, I saved Bolin here from the broken scaffold."

The officer nodded. "Good job, but I'll need official statements, and I believe that Master Tenzin would like to meet you."

Korra glanced at where Ghazan and Ming-Hua casually stood. She looked back at the man and nodded. "Sure, I'll come with you."

After all, she was the Avatar so what could they do to her? No matter what kind of oppressive tyrants ruled Republic City, she couldn't lose, especially with Ghazan and Ming-Hua to help her.

+BotRL+

The White Lotus Captain Long rushed into the courtyard of Air Temple Island. He spotted who he was looking for and called out, "Sir! We just received a message from the RCPD, they've found an ethnically Water Tribe girl of about seventeen who saved a man's life with airbending!"

Tenzin looked up from his conversation with his young daughter Jinora and asked in shock, "What? Is it Avatar Korra?"

Captain Long shook his head. "She claims her name is Kya and she can only airbend, but one of Chief Beifong's people claims to have seen a long-haired and tattooed man in Earth colors and an armless woman in blues on the scene."

Tenzin frowned. It had been over a decade, but he still remembered the testimony from when the Avatar had been kidnapped from her own home. An armless woman, a long-haired earthbender, a woman with a third eye tattoo, and a darkly clothed man had all been reported in varying degrees of detail to have been seen nearby on the day that Korra had disappeared. They had found no sign of the poor girl, but had eventually traced the kidnappers to a ransacked cave where they found traces of the liquid metal mercury, which Fire Lord Zuko had later said was apparently a key component in a poison which could apparently induce the Avatar State. Needless to say, after all these years Tenzin had come to fear the worst for Korra but he had not given up hope that they might be able to find her someday.

Though, he had to ask himself, if this woman was the Avatar, why was she claiming just to be an airbender and giving a false name. Surely she would be aware of her abilities and who she was.

An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach and he focused on the present. "Send word to the Fire Lord and Tonraq immediately, but remind them to act with caution. Something is wrong here, and by that I mean more than just a missing Avatar."

Captain Long bowed in acknowledgement. "Yes, sir. I'll send word immediately."

+BotRL+

A/N: This will probably only be updated sporadically, but I hope you enjoyed it.

+BotRL+

Part 2: Budding

+BotRL+

Chief of Police Lin Beifong walked into the room where the airbender girl sat. The room was not one of the metal boxes typically employed for interrogations, but a conference room with wood paneling and a large oaken table in the center with chairs arranged around it. Large windows displayed the cityscape surrounding the police station and let in afternoon sunlight. It wasn't friendly by any stretch of the imagination, but its formality was much less imposing than the interrogation rooms and Lin understood that getting a statement from someone who was one of the handful of remaining airbnenders was better done with a soft touch. She just knew that if she antagonized the mysterious airbender, that she would get her ear talked off by Tenzin and the rest of the council. Additionally, it wasn't like the girl had done anything wrong, and in fact rescuing that young man's life had been heroic and she hadn't done anything worth criticizing, broken window included.

Then there were her two companions, who bore unsettling similarities to some of the descriptions of the Avatar's suspected kidnappers from over a decade ago. They both held themselves with calm confidence and coiled danger, like a snake ready to strike. Those two were dangerous, it was well hidden but Lin could tell that they were ready to strike a moment's notice. She couldn't gauge their true capabilities, but her gut told her that the two of them would be able to fight their way out of the police station regardless of her presence if it came down to that. She knew they were trouble waiting to happen, and that was a good enough reason to reason to avoid antagonizing the girl they were shadowing, on top of the other reasons.

The girl herself, called Kya, sat before the windows and across from her interviewer with her two guards casually leaning against the frames of the window behind her. She sat with nervous energy, she was worried about something. Her face was that of a Water Tribe girl, the ethnicity of the Avatar. Kya wore a light blue bandana around her head to go with her icy blue eyes, was there a reason for the bandana or was it just a stylistic choice? Her hair fell in waves of cascading chestnut brown from where it was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, which allowed her to keep her long hair relatively out of the way in a fight. She wore a loosely fitted tunic of pale green with pale orange trim and arm bracers of some kind underneath, which made Lin Beifong's honed police instincts insist that these clothes were designed to help conceal anything worn or hidden underneath. Kya's close fitting pants were attached to her wait with a dark brown belt with a variety of pouches, each of which could keep a variety of tools or small devices. Her pants themselves were an earthy brown with dark red cuffs at the base and along the sides of the legs, and were somewhere between loose and formfitting, allowing a full range of motion without significantly increasing the risk of the leggings getting caught and causing Kya to trip. Overall, Lin could tell that Kya, whoever she really was, was trained but inexperienced and had likely been equipped by those responsible for her training. It was suspicious, but far from damning.

Lin Beifong walked up next to the interviewer and watched the almost imperceptible tensing of Kya's two companions before they near instantly went back to appearing casually relaxed. Kya herself was uncertain and her nervousness increase, though she did an admirable job for an amateur. Not anywhere near as good as her companions, but respectable none the less. Lin reached across the table towards Kya. "Chief Lin Beifong, a pleasure to meet you."

Kya stood up quickly and returned the gesture with a firm grip. "Kya, and it's good to meet you too."

When the handshake ended Lin could tell that Kya wanted to ask a question so she let the girl compose herself for a moment. Finally she said, "I didn't think the Chief of Police would come and visit me herself."

Lin gave her a small attempt at a smile and rested her fingers on the wooden tabletop. "It's not every day I get to meet a new airbender, let alone one who happens to be a civic-minded hero."

Kya shrugged uncomfortably. "He was in danger. I couldn't just stand there and watch…. Anyone would have done the same."

Lin gave a real, if still subdued, smile. "I didn't hear about anyone else running up the side of building and jumping across a street to save him."

Kya blushed and looked down for a moment before meeting Lin's eyes again. "Maybe they didn't get a chance?"

Lin grunted. "Someone else might have, but you actually did it." Lin took a seat next to the interviewer, Lieutenant Wan. "So," she asked once she was seated, "what brings you to Republic City?"

Kya paused shortly before replying. "I've always wanted to see the world, and I heard that there was so much to see here in Republic City."

"There is a lot to see and do here in Republic City," Lin agreed, "such as visit the Pro-Bending Arena, the central Republic City Park, Avatar Island," at that her metalbending senses and her keen eyes detected a minute twitch from Kya, "and many other places such as the City Zoo." Lin paused. "However, I'm afraid I'll have to warn you to be careful." At this she noticed Kya's nervousness, which had been almost gone by then, increase and her two companions' wariness subtly grow as well. "The Equalists are a relatively small threat within Republic City itself due to the unfortunate influence of the Triads, but they've already successfully attacked multiple Earth Kingdom compounds, and with their vehement stance against benders there is the chance that they could target you due to your relatively unique status."

Kya frowned. "Unique status? I'm not the only airbender."

Lin nodded in agreement. "No, you're not, but you are the first and only known airbender from outside of Avatar Aang's family." Another subconscious reation. "It's not very likely, but given how notably your entry into the public consciousness was I wouldn't count it out. However," at this Lin nodded to Kya's companions, "they look like they can handle most trouble, so I don't imagine you're likely to run into anything too serious too handle."

Kya smiled and glanced back at her companions. "Yeah, they're pretty cool."

"Yes, though I don't believe we've been introduced," Lin replied.

The man nodded slightly. "Ghazan, good to meet you."

The armless woman expressionlessly said, "Ming-Hua. A pleasure."

It was clear to her expert skills in reading people that they both knew she had picked up something from Kya's conversation.

"I'm glad to have had the chance to meet you both and your friend here," Lin told them before looking back. "I hope we have the chance to meet again outside of the police station, though as I'm sure Master Tenzin will be eager to meet you, perhaps we will have a chance later on Air Temple Island or another official occasion during your stay."

"Master Tenzin is coming here?" Kya asked, unable to suppress her surprise and worry.

"Like I said, you are a special case," Lin replied, slightly amused. It was clear that Kya didn't have much experience with these things. "I imagine he'll want to show you around Air Temple Island and speak with you about your airbending training. Things like that. Don't worry; aside from liking the sound of his own voice a little too much, he's not a bad man."

Kya consciously relaxed and nodded. "Well, I did want to see Air Temple Island."

"Like I said, I'm sure he'll be eager to show you around," Lin assured her. She pushed off from the table and stood. "Well, I should get back to work. I'll let you finish up, and then you can either wait for Master Tenzin here or in the lobby." Lin held out her hand and shook Kya's again. "Good day."

"Good bye," Kya replied.

Lin nodded to Ghazan and Ming-Hua before turning and walking out of the room. Like she had told 'Kya,' she had work to do.

+BotRL+

Korra stood up from the chair she had taken for her statement about the rescue earlier today. She thought it was a bit ridiculous that she had to come to the police station to do the interview, but she could tell that it had likely been a ploy to bring her in because of her airbending, though the Police Chief, Lin Beifong, had been surprisingly nice given what Uncle Zaheer had told her about the woman and so-called 'law enforcement.' It made her worried. Was it some sort of trap? Was she trying to manipulate Korra into thinking she could trust her?

Korra's head was awhirl as she tried to figure out what Lin Beifong had been up too, but as she made her way to the door of the conference room Ming-Hua slipped up beside her and whispered so that only Korra would hear it, "She suspects, we should slip out while we have the chance."

Korra could feel the thrill of fear and rush of adrenalin, but, as Ming-Hua would say, she kept her cool. "Let's see if Bolin is still around," Korra said both to Ghazan and Ming-Hua, and to anyone who could be listening, such as the interviewer, Lieutenant Wan.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ghazan agreed. "He seemed friendly enough." Korra saw out of the corner of her eye him turn his head to her before continuing, "Though, not too friendly…."

Korra was confused for a moment before she heard Ghazan grunt when Ming-Hua kicked him in the shin and say, "He's not her type."

Korra flushed in embarrassment at their antics. "I-no!" she stammered and hurried out the door, followed by Ghazan's low chuckling.

As they made their way through the offices of the police station and back towards the lobby, Korra felt the Ming-Hua and Ghazan's wariness. She knew that they needed to be careful, but there was a vague uneasiness that she couldn't dismiss and couldn't place. She wasn't sure what it was, but she wanted to get out of there before she found out the cause. Despite how much she now wanted to leave, Ghazan and Ming-Hua were maintaining a quick but casual pace and so she couldn't afford to rush.

As she went, she felt the weight of the gazes of the police and assorted other people inside the station. Out in the street she had been able to largely ignore the crowds of strangers, but in the police station with her uneasiness it was much harder. She was still certain that the three of them could fight their way out if they had too, but that didn't make her any less uncomfortable.

Eventually they made it too the lobby, where Bolin stood with another young man who was taller and slimmer to Bolin's blockier build. On Bolin's shoulder was perched a fire ferret which animatedly chattering.

Korra walked over and waved when Bolin looked in her direction. "Hey, Bolin! Thanks for waiting for me."

Bolin smiled shrugged. "Well, you saved my life and you're new to the city so I thought I'd stick around and give the official Bolin brand tour of Republic City." He then swept his arms to the young man standing beside him. "This fine specimen is none other than my renowned firebending brother, Mako!"

Mako waved and said "Hi," before being interrupted by Bolin.

"And of course, the most important member of our group," continued Bolin, picking up the fire ferret and holding the furry animal aloft above his head, "our mascot, Pabu!" Pabu chittered at Korra and she waved back. "And together, we are…the Fire Ferrets!"

"Plus Hasook, our waterbender," added Mako as he pointedly ignored his brother's antics and stepped forward. "A pleasure to meet you," he said, holding out his hand and smiling encouragingly, "and thank you for saving my brother."

Korra noted that he was quite handsome, before realizing that she hadn't said anything and taking his hand. "K-Kya, it was no problem. Happy to help."

She was already embarrassed, but that only got worse when she heard Ghazan chuckle and mutter, "I guess we know her type, huh?" He grunted when Ming-Hua kicked him in the shin again.

Ming-Hua stepped forward and smoothly interjected herself into the conversation while Korra resisted the urge to either bury her face in her hands or strangle Ghazan. "Hi, I'm Ming-Hua, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Mako told her, almost reaching out his hand before stopping. "You're a relative?"

"Yes, we're all from the same village, so you could say I helped raise her," Ming-Hua replied with an icy smile.

"Same here," Ghazan said, stepping up to Korra's other side. "Someone had to be a role model for her after all." Korra and Ming-Hua turned to give him a look and he merely smiled before turning to Mako and taking his hand for a firm enough handshake to leaving Mako wincing.

Shaking feeling back into his hand, Mako said, "It must have been difficult raising an airbender."

"She was quite the handful," Ghazan agreed, grinning. "There are quite a few stories I could tell you about her when she was little, always trying to run off somewhere; but I think the one I should tell first is the one time when she was six after a bath where she ran through town with nothing but a towel and bath suds."

"Ghazan!" Korra exclaimed, embarrassed. Just the memory of running around, splashing people with her beginner's waterbending when she was in such a state still humiliated her.

Ming-Hua kicked him the shin again, but he just grunted, "Worth it."

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, but were there any other airbenders in you village?" Bolin asked. "Like a secret community of airbenders hiding out in the mountains or something," he posed dramatically, clawing his hands, "only coming out at night to hunt down the guilty!?"

Ming-hua chuckled and shook her head. "No, Kya here's the only airbender the village, though she only really developed her talent for it in her teens. Before that she was just an ordinary girl."

Mako nodded. "Well, it's clear that she's more than just an ordinary girl now." Korra felt her face heat up at that. "But, I'm afraid people are going to be asking if she's the Avatar, so you should be ready for that." That made Korra slightly worried.

Ghazan nodded. "Yes, we discussed that before setting out for Republic City, how showing off her airbending might make people think that she's the Avatar when she isn't, but Kya here thought that seeing the big city lights was worth a little attention."

"And it is!" Bolin agreed. "I don't know much about the countryside, admittedly, but Republic City is awesome! Sure there are some bad parts, but there's always something going on, people to see and places to go."

Mako said, "Well, on that note, it was nice meeting you all, but Bolin and I need to go prepare for the match tomorrow. You know how it is."

Bolin turned to Mako, "Oh come on, we just met, she saved my life, and she's an awesome airbender. How many of those do you meet? And she's new to the city. We should at least show her around."

Mako sighed. "You're right," he said before turning back to Korra. "We owe you, so how about we show you a good place to eat, and give you some of the best seats in the house for the match tomorrow?"

Korra smiled, "I don't want to impose, but that sounds great, thank you."

"Great! I know this awesome noodle place, you're gonna love it!" Bolin told Korra excitedly, taking her hand and leading her towards the main entrance to the police station.

Korra let Bolin lead her, buoyed by his energy. However, before they could leave the building, a bald man with a goatee and blue arrow tattoos visible on his head and hands, wearing red and yellow robes strode inside and his gaze swept the room before settling on Korra. As their eyes met, Korra felt a sense of familiarity and recognition; this was Master Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang and leader of the only family of airbenders in the world.

Seeing her, he immediately made his towards her. For a moment she was unsure what to do, but in her indecision and Bolin's surprise at Master Tenzin's appearance the airbender councilor was able to approach. He came to a stop a short distance from Korra, giving Ghazan and Ming-Hua a quick glance before bowing to Korra as he introduced himself. "Hello, I am Master Tenzin, leader of the Air Nation such as it is, and I must say that it is both a surprise and a pleasure to meet a new airbender. I didn't think there was anyone else with the ability left."

Korra smiled at his earnestness, an image of what he must have looked like as child trying for that same earnest solemnity flickering through her mind. "It's a pleasure to meet you Master Tenzin, I'm Kya and I didn't really expect you to show up so quickly."

"How could I not?" Master Tenzin replied. "Your appearance is something no one expected. I'm sure you're already aware, but no one expected another airbender to appear. Please, we have so much to talk about. Do you know if there are there other airbenders?"

Korra shook her head, relying on the story that Zaheer had helped her develop before they parted ways. "No, not that I know of. I grew up in a small village with Ming-Hua and Ghazan here and I spent time playing with some sky bison, and one day I realized that I could airbend."

"Fascinating," Master Tenzin said, "do you know if any of your family was related to any survivors?"

"No, I don't think so," Korra told him, "but we had a few copies of old airbender texts, so it's possible."

"Old airbender texts?" Master Tenzin asked, more excited than before, somehow. "Most of our older texts have surviving copies somewhere, but not all of them survived the War and abandonment, normally I wouldn't dare hope, but given how incredible today has already been…what texts are they, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, well, they're Laghima's discourses on the philosophy of airbending and the nature of Air itself," Korra told him.

"Ah, I believe we already have copies of those," Master Tenzin replied. "However, it's not a very commonly read text, due to the fact that most people don't find it very applicable. You've read his works?"

"Yes, I've read all nine of his treatises. I think it's what helped me learn airbending."

"Really? What were your thoughts on his second treatise, 'Leaves on the Winding Winds?'"

Korra smiled, as much as she liked sparing and practicing bending, she rarely had a chance to actually show off how much she knew. Almost everyone back at the base had already read everything available at some point or other, and in fact there were arranged waiting lists for any new books that people brought back. Aunt P'Li loved her, but Korra could tell that most of the time she was just humoring her, and while Zaheer approved of her reading and meditating on the philosophical texts and their meanings, she couldn't come up with any thought provoking arguments or ideas that were new or that didn't make her embarrassed and ashamed to have made them when Zaheer explained what was wrong with them. Tenzin may be an airbending master and a reader of philosophy, but Zaheer was always right and Korra had learned his arguments and points by heart. Korra started to speak, "Well, I –"

"Hey," Bolin interrupted, still holding Korra's hand, "not that I'm sure this isn't interesting, but it's almost sunset and I haven't eaten since lunch." His words were punctuated with a stomach growl. "So I was wondering if we could go get something to eat and continue our conversation there."

"Oh, sure, sorry for forgetting about my promise, Bolin," Korra told him before looking back at Master Tenzin. "Sorry, but it is getting late and I did agree to going to dinner with him and Mako." She gestured back at Mako, who was standing a short distance from Ghazan and Ming-Hua, who were acting deliberately casual.

"Don't worry about it," Mater Tenzin assured her, "in fact, why don't you come have dinner with me on Air Temple Island, it'd be an opportunity to show you so genuine airbending cuisine, and it'd give you a chance to meet my children. They'd love to meet you, and it would be an honor to host you and your friends."

"Thank you," Korra said uncertainly, caught between her entirely justified suspicion of Master Tenzin's motives as a part of the establishment and thus an enemy of freedom, and an instinctive feeling that she could trust him. It was strange, she knew what Uncle Zaheer had told her about the people of this city, how the leadership couldn't be trusted and how they would try to use her, but at the same time a small part of her felt at ease with Tenzin's presence, accepted and trusted him even after only knowing him for a short time. Korra wasn't sure what the cause was, or if she could trust the feeling, so she looked back to Ming-Hua and Ghazan. Seeing, Ghazan's subtle hand signal, she quickly turned back to Master Tenzin and said, "I don't think we have time for that, the three of us still need to find rooms for our stay here in Republic City."

"Nonsense," Master Tenzin replied, "you don't need to look for rooms. I'd be happy to help out a fellow airbender, and the Air Temple has plenty of spare rooms. It's no problem."

Korra was nonplussed, but Bolin jumped in to fill the void in the conversation. "I've never had airbender food before, or visited Air Temple Island really." His stomach growled. "But about that food…"

Bolin's hunger and lack of concern broke Korra out of her uncertainty. After all, like she'd told herself before, she was the Avatar and she had Ghazan and Ming-Hua with her. There was no way they could keep her from leaving if she didn't want too.

+BotRL+

When Korra stepped out of the building, it was to see a small crowd of reporters at the bottom of the steps eagerly awaiting the mysterious new airbender. The sight of so many strangers shouting questions at her and Master Tenzin was intimidating to her, but she squared her shoulders as Master Tenzin, Ming-Hua and Ghazan stepped forwards. Master Tenzin raised his arms in the air to draw the reporters' attention as metalbender police moved forward to clear a way through the crowd.

"Please calm down, we will not be answering any questions at this time," Tenzin said in a loud, carrying voice. "If you want information about the incident, please consult the official record. This may be noteworthy, but please respect the privacy of those involved." He gestured to Korra and the others as he moved through an opening in the crowds that led to an adult sky bison with a howdah, who was standing next to the curb and taking up several spaces where cars would have otherwise been parked. "I knew I should have landed on the roof," Korra heard Tenzin mutter.

The many of the reporters, rapacious lot that they were, continued to shout out questions, trying to provoke a response. It was intense, but Korra bore up under the interrogative deluge. Then one question cut through the others in her consciousness: "Are you the Avatar?"

She knew she couldn't afford to answer that question, it would cause too many problems, but there was something about the question, and the person asking. Korra though the question almost sounded pleading. She ignored it anyway, it wasn't time yet.

Then she heard another voice, Mako's. "Don't be ridiculous. The Avatar's dead, we've all heard the stories. She's an airbender, and she's a hero for saving my brother, but she's nothing more than that so don't get your readers' hopes up for nothing."

That threw her. What did he mean, 'the Avatar's dead?' Sure she had been taken in by the Red Lotus and trained away from the world, but how did that equate to her being dead? Was it a lie spread by the White Lotus to hide the fact that they didn't control her? Immediately Korra knew that sounded wrong, after all they would have to know that the Avatar would show up at some point and reveal their lies. Then again, Uncle Zaheer had told her that the White Lotus were still hunting for any trace of the Avatar, so perhaps they had intended to find her before she had the chance. But that also didn't fit with what Uncle Zaheer had told her. After all, if they wanted to control her, why try such an attempt at killing her? It just didn't make sense.

She hadn't realized that she'd stopped until Ghazan gently nudged her forward, snapping her back into the present. Clearing her head of another problem that could be considered later, she looked forward to see a concerned expression on Tenzin's face. She force a small smile at him and continued walking, doing her best to look normal so as to deflect attention away from her like Uncle Zaheer had taught her. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as well as she would have hoped when she was already the center of attention. As she walked towards the sky bison, the deluge of questions rose to a ceaseless torrent.

However, the questions that stuck most clearly in her mind were one angrily shouted in what she identified as a Northern Water Tribe accent at Tenzin: "Why did you and the White Lotus let the Avatar die? Do you think finding some airbender can make up for your failure?"

She saw how Tenzin tensed and winced before recovering and turning to the crowd and loudly replied with a tinge of anger, "There is no evidence at all that the Avatar is dead, there is no cover up for her death, and there is no plan to replace her. No matter how much you or anyone else would like it to be, this good news has nothing to do with the Avatar. It is a joyous day when a new airbender is found, and I will not have it sullied by your scurrilous accusations. Good day." With that he swept himself up into the air and onto his sky bison's back and waited for the others, air swirling in a sphere around him.

A weight settled in Korra's gut as she continued walking towards the sky bison. Where did that story come from, and why did Tenzin have such a strong reaction to it? From the anger on both sides, Korra could tell that it wasn't something that Tenzin had started or supported, though that didn't rule out the rest of the White Lotus's leadership. But, the sheer anger towards the White Lotus made it unlikely in Korra's mind that they would want it spread. The unease that she had started feeling since the end of the interview which had abated during her conversations with Bolin, Mako and Tenzin was back and stronger than before. Something was wrong, and she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer to what it was.

She had to carefully control her breathing in order to avoid running and leaping into the sky bison's howdah like she had something to hide, a reason to run away. She held firm against the storm of questions within and without, unbending against them. Letting them flow around her. It's what Zaheer would want her to do.

After all too long for her, Korra eventually reached the sky bison. She then leapt onto the howdah with her airbending, letting the others climb aboard behind her. She sat down a short distance from Tenzin and looked at the air swirling around him. Korra wasn't sure, but some part of her suggested that it was a way to block out surrounding sound with the rushing of moving air. She decided to try and mimic the ability, using her hands to set the air around her swirling. However, she didn't end up with a sphere of air and instead got a small twister. Before she could try again, Bolin climbed over the edge, so she let the air disperse but continued to avoid and ignore the questions all around.

Bolin looked at her uncertainly, before settling into a sitting position as the other three joined them on the sky bison. Once they were aboard, seeing that Tenzin hadn't noticed yet, Korra leaned over and patted the sky bison's furry side, calling out, "Yip, yip."

The sky bison leapt into the air, startling Tenzin, but he recovered quickly and they flew off towards Air Temple Island. It gave Korra a chance to concentrate on the image of the Red Lotus and their organization's main tenets. It wasn't particularly relaxing, but it was all she could think of to help clear her mind and focus it on what was important.

Perhaps fortunately, Bolin chose that moment to interrupt her thoughts. "Hey, Kya, are you alright?" he asked. "I know that must have been hard for you since this is your first time in a city like this."

Letting out a sigh, she turned her head to look at him. "Yes, it was." She paused. "I suppose you're used to that sort of thing though, being a professional competitive bender."

Bolin shrugged. "Well, we aren't the biggest team out there, but we've had to deal with our share of pushy crowds. Right, Mako?"

"Mostly they were pushy waiting for the other teams," Mako remarked, leaning back against the side of the howdah. "But when we won against the bigger named teams we started getting some people trying to get our attention, but mostly when they couldn't find a better story." He focused on Korra. "You shouldn't worry about it too much, Kya. They'll get used to you and start looking for something newer, just don't take it personally."

"He's right," Ghazan agreed. "Don't pay them any mind and they'll drift off to something else eventually."

Korra nodded silently, her gaze drifting to the floor of the howdah.

"It's because of the Avatar, isn't it?" she heard Tenzin ask. She looked up questioningly at him, wary. He sighed. "I had wished it wouldn't happen, but it has…"

"What?" Korra asked, concerned.

"After the Avatar was kidnapped as a child, we did our best to rescue her, but there was no sign of what happened to her," Tenzin explained. "We found mercury in the cave, which can be used to induce the Avatar state, and killing the Avatar when they are like that is the only way to break the Avatar's cycle. I don't know how it happened, but when news of that got out…" He shook his head. "Unfortunately, some people have taken to jumping at anything that looks like the rediscovery of the Avatar, while others believe that she was killed by her kidnappers and without any evidence either way…."

Korra let her gaze slide out to the passing city as she thought. She knew that when the Five had taken her into the Red Lotus, they had made sure to keep it secret, but she'd never really thought that it would be like this. She had expected people to be looking for the Avatar because they wanted to control her power, like Zaheer said, but the anger she had heard was different. They were blaming each other and lashing out over her 'kidnapping.'

She had thought that she could have fun and experience life outside of the base like she'd always dreamed, before getting ready for Harmonic Convergence when she would reveal herself as the Avatar and set the world right. She hadn't expected the reaction to her disappearance to be so strong. After all, the Avatar usually remained relatively secluded until adulthood anyway. But with her, it was different. When the Red Lotus took her it was viewed as a kidnapping or a murder. It was wrong of course, but how pervasive the idea was made her uncomfortable.

She looked out at the office and apartment buildings that gradually began to decrease in height as they neared the docks. No matter how much she had wanted to see the world, it wasn't what she had hoped for or wanted. Well, at the beginning it was when she was wandering through the city, but after she drew attention to herself by saving Bolin things had started getting worse and her sense of unease had only continued to grow. She wouldn't regret saving his life, but she did regret not immediately disappearing or using something other than airbending to do it.

The question what she would do now. A part of her wanted to jump off of the sky bison and escape into the city, to get away from the drama. She'd be able to see the city without worrying about what people thought about the Avatar or the attempts of the White Lotus to manipulate her. Sure they would be looking for her, but she could escape them, especially with Ghazan and Ming-Hua to help her. It might be inconvenient at times, but surely it would be easier than staying under the watch and guard of the White Lotus. It was what Uncle Zaheer would want her to do in this situation.

On the other hand, the part of her that had always craved the outside world, which had always wanted to see what it was like for herself, wanted to see Air Temple Island and wanted to understand what was going on. It was a part of her that always whispered that there was something more out there to see, something more to know, that she could be out there using her power as the Avatar to fix the world that they had always told her was out of balance. If she went with Tenzin to the island, maybe she could learn more about what was happening, what the White Lotus and their allies were doing and how they could be stopped and defeated. Master Tenzin was letting her into an important White Lotus base and that in and of itself held the promise of valuable information she could gather on their operations. Despite her unease, she didn't think that Master Tenzin at least thought she was the Avatar, and even if he did, he hadn't tried to capture her. In fact, she could probably convince them that she was on their side.

Zaheer probably wouldn't like her putting herself in that kind of danger, but she still had Ghazan and Ming-Hua, and if the White Lotus or anyone else made a move on any of them, there was no way they could be stopped. No matter how dangerous the White Lotus's people were, there was no way they could stop her from leaving if she wanted to. She was the Avatar, and they couldn't stop her if they tried.

Nodding to herself, Korra looked out over the bay, her eyes drifting across the ships as the others chatted around her. As Tenzin's sky bison started a slopping descent, Korra's eyes locked on those of the statue of Avatar Aang that towered over the bay.

She was the Avatar, and no matter what happened, she wouldn't let the White Lotus or anyone else use her for their own ends.

+BotRL+

Tonraq trudged through the snow with purpose. After speaking with Captain Long over the radio, he knew that he needed to speak with Senna, and he knew what she would say.

He reached their home and stomped in and called out to his wife, "Senna! I have word from Republic City!"

He heard her moving around in the next room before coming out meet him. "What is it, Tonraq?" she asked with a frown.

"Captain Long told me that they've found a young woman, an ethnically Water Tribe girl who can airbend." He paused for a breath to let her appreciate that statement. "Apparently Tenzin and Unalaq are skeptical, but I'm going to meet her. I have to know."

Senna was frozen like a glacier for a moment as she processed what he said, before she nodded. "I'm coming with you."

+BotRL+

Zaheer stood at attention with the other Chi Blocker Elite of the Equalists as Amon paced before them with sinister grace, his expression hidden behind his mask. He spoke with absolute confidence. "This airbender girl is a potential problem. People think she could be the Avatar, when it is clear to all who see the truth that the time of the Avatar is past. Those who sought her out all those years ago may have hidden themselves and the Avatar with them, but this has allowed people to see the truth, that the Avatar can be stopped."

He stopped and Zaheer could tell that Amon was looking intently at each of the Chi Blockers before him. "So long as people hold out hope that the Avatar can help them, will help them, they reject the necessity of what it takes to truly set this world right. That bending itself must be eliminated. Already many see the truth in part because of the visible absence of the icon of this vile world order, but we must make sure that the Avatar remains gone. Our triumph is inevitable, but if they remain without her, or someone they claim to be her, then they will break much more easily. In doing so, we will spare the lives and suffering of so many who believe in the cause by ensuring that the corrupt do not have themselves an Avatar to inspire hope that their evil can withstand us."

Amon's eyes settled on Zaheer. "You will bring me this airbender girl in time for my grand reveal, and she will be yet another false hope for the benders that seek to preserve their precious status quo. I do not want her to gain the legitimacy of a public defeat, so that they can have themselves a martyr. Do I make myself clear?"

Zaheer bowed. "Of course, sir. The airbender won't even know what hit her."

+BotRL+

A/N: If you're wondering what's up with Korra, keep in mind that in LoK season 1 Aang was giving Korra visions. This is just the same, so if it helps you can picture what Aang's doing as the past life equivalent of shouting in Korra's ear.

+BotRL+


	2. Part 2: Budding

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_**Part 2: Budding**_

+BotRL+

Chief of Police Lin Beifong walked into the room where the airbender girl sat. The room was not one of the metal boxes typically employed for interrogations, but a conference room with wood paneling and a large oaken table in the center with chairs arranged around it. Large windows displayed the cityscape surrounding the police station and let in afternoon sunlight. It wasn't friendly by any stretch of the imagination, but its formality was much less imposing than the interrogation rooms and Lin understood that getting a statement from someone who was one of the handful of remaining airbnenders was better done with a soft touch. She just knew that if she antagonized the mysterious airbender, that she would get her ear talked off by Tenzin and the rest of the council. Additionally, it wasn't like the girl had done anything wrong, and in fact rescuing that young man's life had been heroic and she hadn't done anything worth criticizing, broken window included.

Then there were her two companions, who bore unsettling similarities to some of the descriptions of the Avatar's suspected kidnappers from over a decade ago. They both held themselves with calm confidence and coiled danger, like a snake ready to strike. Those two were dangerous, it was well hidden but Lin could tell that they were ready to strike a moment's notice. She couldn't gauge their true capabilities, but her gut told her that the two of them would be able to fight their way out of the police station regardless of her presence if it came down to that. She knew they were trouble waiting to happen, and that was a good enough reason to reason to avoid antagonizing the girl they were shadowing, on top of the other reasons.

The girl herself, called Kya, sat before the windows and across from her interviewer with her two guards casually leaning against the frames of the window behind her. She sat with nervous energy, she was worried about something. Her face was that of a Water Tribe girl, the ethnicity of the Avatar. Kya wore a light blue bandana around her head to go with her icy blue eyes, was there a reason for the bandana or was it just a stylistic choice? Her hair fell in waves of cascading chestnut brown from where it was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, which allowed her to keep her long hair relatively out of the way in a fight. She wore a loosely fitted tunic of pale green with pale orange trim and arm bracers of some kind underneath, which made Lin Beifong's honed police instincts insist that these clothes were designed to help conceal anything worn or hidden underneath. Kya's close fitting pants were attached to her wait with a dark brown belt with a variety of pouches, each of which could keep a variety of tools or small devices. Her pants themselves were an earthy brown with dark red cuffs at the base and along the sides of the legs, and were somewhere between loose and formfitting, allowing a full range of motion without significantly increasing the risk of the leggings getting caught and causing Kya to trip. Overall, Lin could tell that Kya, whoever she really was, was trained but inexperienced and had likely been equipped by those responsible for her training. It was suspicious, but far from damning.

Lin Beifong walked up next to the interviewer and watched the almost imperceptible tensing of Kya's two companions before they near instantly went back to appearing casually relaxed. Kya herself was uncertain and her nervousness increase, though she did an admirable job for an amateur. Not anywhere near as good as her companions, but respectable none the less. Lin reached across the table towards Kya. "Chief Lin Beifong, a pleasure to meet you."

Kya stood up quickly and returned the gesture with a firm grip. "Kya, and it's good to meet you too."

When the handshake ended Lin could tell that Kya wanted to ask a question so she let the girl compose herself for a moment. Finally she said, "I didn't think the Chief of Police would come and visit me herself."

Lin gave her a small attempt at a smile and rested her fingers on the wooden tabletop. "It's not every day I get to meet a new airbender, let alone one who happens to be a civic-minded hero."

Kya shrugged uncomfortably. "He was in danger. I couldn't just stand there and watch…. Anyone would have done the same."

Lin gave a real, if still subdued, smile. "I didn't hear about anyone else running up the side of building and jumping across a street to save him."

Kya blushed and looked down for a moment before meeting Lin's eyes again. "Maybe they didn't get a chance?"

Lin grunted. "Someone else might have, but you actually did it." Lin took a seat next to the interviewer, Lieutenant Wan. "So," she asked once she was seated, "what brings you to Republic City?"

Kya paused shortly before replying. "I've always wanted to see the world, and I heard that there was so much to see here in Republic City."

"There is a lot to see and do here in Republic City," Lin agreed, "such as visit the Pro-Bending Arena, the central Republic City Park, Avatar Island," at that her metalbending senses and her keen eyes detected a minute twitch from Kya, "and many other places such as the City Zoo." Lin paused. "However, I'm afraid I'll have to warn you to be careful." At this she noticed Kya's nervousness, which had been almost gone by then, increase and her two companions' wariness subtly grow as well. "The Equalists are a relatively small threat within Republic City itself due to the unfortunate influence of the Triads, but they've already successfully attacked multiple Earth Kingdom compounds, and with their vehement stance against benders there is the chance that they could target you due to your relatively unique status."

Kya frowned. "Unique status? I'm not the only airbender."

Lin nodded in agreement. "No, you're not, but you are the first and only known airbender from outside of Avatar Aang's family." Another subconscious reation. "It's not very likely, but given how notably your entry into the public consciousness was I wouldn't count it out. However," at this Lin nodded to Kya's companions, "they look like they can handle most trouble, so I don't imagine you're likely to run into anything too serious too handle."

Kya smiled and glanced back at her companions. "Yeah, they're pretty cool."

"Yes, though I don't believe we've been introduced," Lin replied.

The man nodded slightly. "Genji, good to meet you."

The armless woman expressionlessly said, "Ming. A pleasure."

It was clear to her expert skills in reading people that they both knew she had picked up something from Kya's conversation.

"I'm glad to have had the chance to meet you both and your friend here," Lin told them before looking back. "I hope we have the chance to meet again outside of the police station, though as I'm sure Master Tenzin will be eager to meet you, perhaps we will have a chance later on Air Temple Island or another official occasion during your stay."

"Master Tenzin is coming here?" Kya asked, unable to suppress her surprise and worry.

"Like I said, you are a special case," Lin replied, slightly amused. It was clear that Kya didn't have much experience with these things. "I imagine he'll want to show you around Air Temple Island and speak with you about your airbending training. Things like that. Don't worry; aside from liking the sound of his own voice a little too much, he's not a bad man."

Kya consciously relaxed and nodded. "Well, I did want to see Air Temple Island."

"Like I said, I'm sure he'll be eager to show you around," Lin assured her. She pushed off from the table and stood. "Well, I should get back to work. I'll let you finish up, and then you can either wait for Master Tenzin here or in the lobby." Lin held out her hand and shook Kya's again. "Good day."

"Good bye," Kya replied.

Lin nodded to Genji and Ming before turning and walking out of the room. Like she had told 'Kya,' she had work to do.

+BotRL+

Korra stood up from the chair she had taken for her statement about the rescue earlier today. She thought it was a bit ridiculous that she had to come to the police station to do the interview, but she could tell that it had likely been a ploy to bring her in because of her airbending, though the Police Chief, Lin Beifong, had been surprisingly nice given what Uncle Zaheer had told her about the woman and so-called 'law enforcement.' It made her worried. Was it some sort of trap? Was she trying to manipulate Korra into thinking she could trust her?

Korra's head was awhirl as she tried to figure out what Lin Beifong had been up too, but as she made her way to the door of the conference room Ming-Hua slipped up beside her and whispered so that only Korra would hear it, "She suspects, we should slip out while we have the chance."

Korra could feel the thrill of fear and rush of adrenalin, but, as Ming-Hua would say, she kept her cool. "Let's see if Bolin is still around," Korra said both to Ghazan and Ming-Hua, and to anyone who could be listening, such as the interviewer, Lieutenant Wan.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ghazan agreed. "He seemed friendly enough." Korra saw out of the corner of her eye him turn his head to her before continuing, "Though, not too friendly…."

Korra was confused for a moment before she heard Ghazan grunt when Ming-Hua kicked him in the shin and say, "He's not her type."

Korra flushed in embarrassment at their antics. "I-no!" she stammered and hurried out the door, followed by Ghazan's low chuckling.

As they made their way through the offices of the police station and back towards the lobby, Korra felt the Ming-Hua and Ghazan's wariness. She knew that they needed to be careful, but there was a vague uneasiness that she couldn't dismiss and couldn't place. She wasn't sure what it was, but she wanted to get out of there before she found out the cause. Despite how much she now wanted to leave, Ghazan and Ming-Hua were maintaining a quick but casual pace and so she couldn't afford to rush.

As she went, she felt the weight of the gazes of the police and assorted other people inside the station. Out in the street she had been able to largely ignore the crowds of strangers, but in the police station with her uneasiness it was much harder. She was still certain that the three of them could fight their way out if they had too, but that didn't make her any less uncomfortable.

Eventually they made it too the lobby, where Bolin stood with another young man who was taller and slimmer to Bolin's blockier build. On Bolin's shoulder was perched a fire ferret which animatedly chattering.

Korra walked over and waved when Bolin looked in her direction. "Hey, Bolin! Thanks for waiting for me."

Bolin smiled shrugged. "Well, you saved my life and you're new to the city so I thought I'd stick around and give the official Bolin brand tour of Republic City." He then swept his arms to the young man standing beside him. "This fine specimen is none other than my renowned firebending brother, Mako!"

Mako waved and said "Hi," before being interrupted by Bolin.

"And of course, the most important member of our group," continued Bolin, picking up the fire ferret and holding the furry animal aloft above his head, "our mascot, Pabu!" Pabu chittered at Korra and she waved back. "And together, we are…the Fire Ferrets!"

"Plus Hasook, our waterbender," added Mako as he pointedly ignored his brother's antics and stepped forward. "A pleasure to meet you," he said, holding out his hand and smiling encouragingly, "and thank you for saving my brother."

Korra noted that he was quite handsome, before realizing that she hadn't said anything and taking his hand. "K-Kya, it was no problem. Happy to help."

She was already embarrassed, but that only got worse when she heard Ghazan chuckle and mutter, "I guess we know her type, huh?" He grunted when Ming-Hua kicked him in the shin again.

Ming-Hua stepped forward and smoothly interjected herself into the conversation while Korra resisted the urge to either bury her face in her hands or strangle Ghazan. "Hi, I'm Ming, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Mako told her, almost reaching out his hand before stopping. "You're a relative?"

"Yes, we're all from the same village, so you could say I helped raise her," Ming-Hua replied with an icy smile.

"Same here," Ghazan said, stepping up to Korra's other side. "Someone had to be a role model for her after all." Korra and Ming-Hua turned to give him a look and he merely smiled before turning to Mako and taking his hand for a firm enough handshake to leaving Mako wincing.

Shaking feeling back into his hand, Mako said, "It must have been difficult raising an airbender."

"She was quite the handful," Ghazan agreed, grinning. "There are quite a few stories I could tell you about her when she was little, always trying to run off somewhere; but I think the one I should tell first is the one time when she was six after a bath where she ran through town with nothing but a towel and bath suds."

"Genji!" Korra exclaimed, embarrassed. Just the memory of running around, splashing people with her beginner's waterbending when she was in such a state still humiliated her.

Ming-Hua kicked him the shin again, but he just grunted, "Worth it."

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, but were there any other airbenders in you village?" Bolin asked. "Like a secret community of airbenders hiding out in the mountains or something," he posed dramatically, clawing his hands, "only coming out at night to hunt down the guilty!?"

Ming-Hua chuckled and shook her head. "No, Kya here's the only airbender the village, though she only really developed her talent for it in her teens. Before that she was just an ordinary girl."

Mako nodded. "Well, it's clear that she's more than just an ordinary girl now." Korra felt her face heat up at that. "But, I'm afraid people are going to be asking if she's the Avatar, so you should be ready for that." That made Korra slightly worried.

Ghazan nodded. "Yes, we discussed that before setting out for Republic City, how showing off her airbending might make people think that she's the Avatar when she isn't, but Kya here thought that seeing the big city lights was worth a little attention."

"And it is!" Bolin agreed. "I don't know much about the countryside, admittedly, but Republic City is awesome! Sure there are some bad parts, but there's always something going on, people to see and places to go."

Mako said, "Well, on that note, it was nice meeting you all, but Bolin and I need to go prepare for the match tomorrow. You know how it is."

Bolin turned to Mako, "Oh come on, we just met, she saved my life, and she's an awesome airbender. How many of those do you meet? And she's new to the city. We should at least show her around."

Mako sighed. "You're right," he said before turning back to Korra. "We owe you, so how about we show you a good place to eat, and give you some of the best seats in the house for the match tomorrow?"

Korra smiled, "I don't want to impose, but that sounds great, thank you."

"Great! I know this awesome noodle place, you're gonna love it!" Bolin told Korra excitedly, taking her hand and leading her towards the main entrance to the police station.

Korra let Bolin lead her, buoyed by his energy. However, before they could leave the building, a bald man with a goatee and blue arrow tattoos visible on his head and hands, wearing red and yellow robes strode inside and his gaze swept the room before settling on Korra. As their eyes met, Korra felt a sense of familiarity and recognition; this was Master Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang and leader of the only family of airbenders in the world.

Seeing her, he immediately made his towards her. For a moment she was unsure what to do, but in her indecision and Bolin's surprise at Master Tenzin's appearance the airbender councilor was able to approach. He came to a stop a short distance from Korra, giving Ghazan and Ming-Hua a quick glance before bowing to Korra as he introduced himself. "Hello, I am Master Tenzin, leader of the Air Nation such as it is, and I must say that it is both a surprise and a pleasure to meet a new airbender. I didn't think there was anyone else with the ability left."

Korra smiled at his earnestness, an image of what he must have looked like as child trying for that same earnest solemnity flickering through her mind. "It's a pleasure to meet you Master Tenzin, I'm Kya and I didn't really expect you to show up so quickly."

"How could I not?" Master Tenzin replied. "Your appearance is something no one expected. I'm sure you're already aware, but no one expected another airbender to appear. Please, we have so much to talk about. Do you know if there are there other airbenders?"

Korra shook her head, relying on the story that Zaheer had helped her develop before they parted ways. "No, not that I know of. I grew up in a small village with Ming and Genji here and I spent time playing with some sky bison, and one day I realized that I could airbend."

"Fascinating," Master Tenzin said, "do you know if any of your family was related to any survivors?"

"No, I don't think so," Korra told him, "but we had a few copies of old airbender texts, so it's possible."

"Old airbender texts?" Master Tenzin asked, more excited than before, somehow. "Most of our older texts have surviving copies somewhere, but not all of them survived the War and abandonment, normally I wouldn't dare hope, but given how incredible today has already been…what texts are they, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, well, they're Laghima's discourses on the philosophy of airbending and the nature of Air itself," Korra told him.

"Ah, I believe we already have copies of those," Master Tenzin replied. "However, it's not a very commonly read text, due to the fact that most people don't find it very applicable. You've read his works?"

"Yes, I've read all nine of his treatises. I think it's what helped me learn airbending."

"Really? What were your thoughts on his second treatise, 'Leaves on the Winding Winds?'"

Korra smiled, as much as she liked sparing and practicing bending, she rarely had a chance to actually show off how much she knew. Almost everyone back at the base had already read everything available at some point or other, and in fact there were arranged waiting lists for any new books that people brought back. Aunt P'Li loved her, but Korra could tell that most of the time she was just humoring her, and while Zaheer approved of her reading and meditating on the philosophical texts and their meanings, she couldn't come up with any thought provoking arguments or ideas that were new or that didn't make her embarrassed and ashamed to have made them when Zaheer explained what was wrong with them. Tenzin may be an airbending master and a reader of philosophy, but Zaheer was always right and Korra had learned his arguments and points by heart. Korra started to speak, "Well, I –"

"Hey," Bolin interrupted, still holding Korra's hand, "not that I'm sure this isn't interesting, but it's almost sunset and I haven't eaten since lunch." His words were punctuated with a stomach growl. "So I was wondering if we could go get something to eat and continue our conversation there."

"Oh, sure, sorry for forgetting about my promise, Bolin," Korra told him before looking back at Master Tenzin. "Sorry, but it is getting late and I did agree to going to dinner with him and Mako." She gestured back at Mako, who was standing a short distance from Ghazan and Ming-Hua, who were acting deliberately casual.

"Don't worry about it," Mater Tenzin assured her, "in fact, why don't you come have dinner with me on Air Temple Island, it'd be an opportunity to show you so genuine airbending cuisine, and it'd give you a chance to meet my children. They'd love to meet you, and it would be an honor to host you and your friends."

"Thank you," Korra said uncertainly, caught between her entirely justified suspicion of Master Tenzin's motives as a part of the establishment and thus an enemy of freedom, and an instinctive feeling that she could trust him. It was strange, she knew what Uncle Zaheer had told her about the people of this city, how the leadership couldn't be trusted and how they would try to use her, but at the same time a small part of her felt at ease with Tenzin's presence, accepted and trusted him even after only knowing him for a short time. Korra wasn't sure what the cause was, or if she could trust the feeling, so she looked back to Ming-Hua and Ghazan. Seeing, Ghazan's subtle hand signal, she quickly turned back to Master Tenzin and said, "I don't think we have time for that, the three of us still need to find rooms for our stay here in Republic City."

"Nonsense," Master Tenzin replied, "you don't need to look for rooms. I'd be happy to help out a fellow airbender, and the Air Temple has plenty of spare rooms. It's no problem."

Korra was nonplussed, but Bolin jumped in to fill the void in the conversation. "I've never had airbender food before, or visited Air Temple Island really." His stomach growled. "But about that food…"

Bolin's hunger and lack of concern broke Korra out of her uncertainty. After all, like she'd told herself before, she was the Avatar and she had Ghazan and Ming-Hua with her. There was no way they could keep her from leaving if she didn't want too.

+BotRL+

When Korra stepped out of the building, it was to see a small crowd of reporters at the bottom of the steps eagerly awaiting the mysterious new airbender. The sight of so many strangers shouting questions at her and Master Tenzin was intimidating to her, but she squared her shoulders as Master Tenzin, Ming-Hua and Ghazan stepped forwards. Master Tenzin raised his arms in the air to draw the reporters' attention as metalbender police moved forward to clear a way through the crowd.

"Please calm down, we will not be answering any questions at this time," Tenzin said in a loud, carrying voice. "If you want information about the incident, please consult the official record. This may be noteworthy, but please respect the privacy of those involved." He gestured to Korra and the others as he moved through an opening in the crowds that led to an adult sky bison with a howdah, who was standing next to the curb and taking up several spaces where cars would have otherwise been parked. "I knew I should have landed on the roof," Korra heard Tenzin mutter.

The many of the reporters, rapacious lot that they were, continued to shout out questions, trying to provoke a response. It was intense, but Korra bore up under the interrogative deluge. Then one question cut through the others in her consciousness: "Are you the Avatar?"

She knew she couldn't afford to answer that question, it would cause too many problems, but there was something about the question, and the person asking. Korra though the question almost sounded pleading. She ignored it anyway, it wasn't time yet.

Then she heard another voice, Mako's. "Don't be ridiculous. The Avatar's dead, we've all heard the stories. She's an airbender, and she's a hero for saving my brother, but she's nothing more than that so don't get your readers' hopes up for nothing."

That threw her. What did he mean, 'the Avatar's dead?' Sure she had been taken in by the Red Lotus and trained away from the world, but how did that equate to her being dead? Was it a lie spread by the White Lotus to hide the fact that they didn't control her? Immediately Korra knew that sounded wrong, after all they would have to know that the Avatar would show up at some point and reveal their lies. Then again, Uncle Zaheer had told her that the White Lotus were still hunting for any trace of the Avatar, so perhaps they had intended to find her before she had the chance. But that also didn't fit with what Uncle Zaheer had told her. After all, if they wanted to control her, why try such an attempt at killing her? It just didn't make sense.

She hadn't realized that she'd stopped until Ghazan gently nudged her forward, snapping her back into the present. Clearing her head of another problem that could be considered later, she looked forward to see a concerned expression on Tenzin's face. She force a small smile at him and continued walking, doing her best to look normal so as to deflect attention away from her like Uncle Zaheer had taught her. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as well as she would have hoped when she was already the center of attention. As she walked towards the sky bison, the deluge of questions rose to a ceaseless torrent.

However, the questions that stuck most clearly in her mind were one angrily shouted in what she identified as a Northern Water Tribe accent at Tenzin: "Why did you and the White Lotus let the Avatar die? Do you think finding some airbender can make up for your failure?"

She saw how Tenzin tensed and winced before recovering and turning to the crowd and loudly replied with a tinge of anger, "There is no evidence at all that the Avatar is dead, there is no cover up for her death, and there is no plan to replace her. No matter how much you or anyone else would like it to be, this good news has nothing to do with the Avatar. It is a joyous day when a new airbender is found, and I will not have it sullied by your scurrilous accusations. Good day." With that he swept himself up into the air and onto his sky bison's back and waited for the others, air swirling in a sphere around him.

A weight settled in Korra's gut as she continued walking towards the sky bison. Where did that story come from, and why did Tenzin have such a strong reaction to it? From the anger on both sides, Korra could tell that it wasn't something that Tenzin had started or supported, though that didn't rule out the rest of the White Lotus's leadership. But, the sheer anger towards the White Lotus made it unlikely in Korra's mind that they would want it spread. The unease that she had started feeling since the end of the interview which had abated during her conversations with Bolin, Mako and Tenzin was back and stronger than before. Something was wrong, and she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer to what it was.

She had to carefully control her breathing in order to avoid running and leaping into the sky bison's howdah like she had something to hide, a reason to run away. She held firm against the storm of questions within and without, unbending against them. Letting them flow around her. It's what Zaheer would want her to do.

After all too long for her, Korra eventually reached the sky bison. She then leapt onto the howdah with her airbending, letting the others climb aboard behind her. She sat down a short distance from Tenzin and looked at the air swirling around him. Korra wasn't sure, but some part of her suggested that it was a way to block out surrounding sound with the rushing of moving air. She decided to try and mimic the ability, using her hands to set the air around her swirling. However, she didn't end up with a sphere of air and instead got a small twister. Before she could try again, Bolin climbed over the edge, so she let the air disperse but continued to avoid and ignore the questions all around.

Bolin looked at her uncertainly, before settling into a sitting position as the other three joined them on the sky bison. Once they were aboard, seeing that Tenzin hadn't noticed yet, Korra leaned over and patted the sky bison's furry side, calling out, "Yip, yip."

The sky bison leapt into the air, startling Tenzin, but he recovered quickly and they flew off towards Air Temple Island. It gave Korra a chance to concentrate on the image of the Red Lotus and their organization's main tenets. It wasn't particularly relaxing, but it was all she could think of to help clear her mind and focus it on what was important.

Perhaps fortunately, Bolin chose that moment to interrupt her thoughts. "Hey, Kya, are you alright?" he asked. "I know that must have been hard for you since this is your first time in a city like this."

Letting out a sigh, she turned her head to look at him. "Yes, it was." She paused. "I suppose you're used to that sort of thing though, being a professional competitive bender."

Bolin shrugged. "Well, we aren't the biggest team out there, but we've had to deal with our share of pushy crowds. Right, Mako?"

"Mostly they were pushy waiting for the other teams," Mako remarked, leaning back against the side of the howdah. "But when we won against the bigger named teams we started getting some people trying to get our attention, but mostly when they couldn't find a better story." He focused on Korra. "You shouldn't worry about it too much, Kya. They'll get used to you and start looking for something newer, just don't take it personally."

"He's right," Ghazan agreed. "Don't pay them any mind and they'll drift off to something else eventually."

Korra nodded silently, her gaze drifting to the floor of the howdah.

"It's because of the Avatar, isn't it?" she heard Tenzin ask. She looked up questioningly at him, wary. He sighed. "I had wished it wouldn't happen, but it has…"

"What?" Korra asked, concerned.

"After the Avatar was kidnapped as a child, we did our best to rescue her, but there was no sign of what happened to her," Tenzin explained. "We found mercury in the cave, which can be used to induce the Avatar state, and killing the Avatar when they are like that is the only way to break the Avatar's cycle. I don't know how it happened, but when news of that got out…" He shook his head. "Unfortunately, some people have taken to jumping at anything that looks like the rediscovery of the Avatar, while others believe that she was killed by her kidnappers and without any evidence either way…."

Korra let her gaze slide out to the passing city as she thought. She knew that when the Five had taken her into the Red Lotus, they had made sure to keep it secret, but she'd never really thought that it would be like this. She had expected people to be looking for the Avatar because they wanted to control her power, like Zaheer said, but the anger she had heard was different. They were blaming each other and lashing out over her 'kidnapping.'

She had thought that she could have fun and experience life outside of the base like she'd always dreamed, before getting ready for Harmonic Convergence when she would reveal herself as the Avatar and set the world right. She hadn't expected the reaction to her disappearance to be so strong. After all, the Avatar usually remained relatively secluded until adulthood anyway. But with her, it was different. When the Red Lotus took her it was viewed as a kidnapping or a murder. It was wrong of course, but how pervasive the idea was made her uncomfortable.

She looked out at the office and apartment buildings that gradually began to decrease in height as they neared the docks. No matter how much she had wanted to see the world, it wasn't what she had hoped for or wanted. Well, at the beginning it was when she was wandering through the city, but after she drew attention to herself by saving Bolin things had started getting worse and her sense of unease had only continued to grow. She wouldn't regret saving his life, but she did regret not immediately disappearing or using something other than airbending to do it.

The question what she would do now. A part of her wanted to jump off of the sky bison and escape into the city, to get away from the drama. She'd be able to see the city without worrying about what people thought about the Avatar or the attempts of the White Lotus to manipulate her. Sure they would be looking for her, but she could escape them, especially with Ghazan and Ming-Hua to help her. It might be inconvenient at times, but surely it would be easier than staying under the watch and guard of the White Lotus. It was what Uncle Zaheer would want her to do in this situation.

On the other hand, the part of her that had always craved the outside world, which had always wanted to see what it was like for herself, wanted to see Air Temple Island and wanted to understand what was going on. It was a part of her that always whispered that there was something more out there to see, something more to know, that she could be out there using her power as the Avatar to fix the world that they had always told her was out of balance. If she went with Tenzin to the island, maybe she could learn more about what was happening, what the White Lotus and their allies were doing and how they could be stopped and defeated. Master Tenzin was letting her into an important White Lotus base and that in and of itself held the promise of valuable information she could gather on their operations. Despite her unease, she didn't think that Master Tenzin at least thought she was the Avatar, and even if he did, he hadn't tried to capture her. In fact, she could probably convince them that she was on their side.

Zaheer probably wouldn't like her putting herself in that kind of danger, but she still had Ghazan and Ming-Hua, and if the White Lotus or anyone else made a move on any of them, there was no way they could be stopped. No matter how dangerous the White Lotus's people were, there was no way they could stop her from leaving if she wanted to. She was the Avatar, and they couldn't stop her if they tried.

Nodding to herself, Korra looked out over the bay, her eyes drifting across the ships as the others chatted around her. As Tenzin's sky bison started a slopping descent, Korra's eyes locked on those of the statue of Avatar Aang that towered over the bay.

She was the Avatar, and no matter what happened, she wouldn't let the White Lotus or anyone else use her for their own ends.

+BotRL+

Tonraq trudged through the snow with purpose. After speaking with Captain Long over the radio, he knew that he needed to speak with Senna, and he knew what she would say.

He reached their home and stomped in and called out to his wife, "Senna! I have word from Republic City!"

He heard her moving around in the next room before coming out meet him. "What is it, Tonraq?" she asked with a frown.

"Captain Long told me that they've found a young woman, an ethnically Water Tribe girl who can airbend." He paused for a breath to let her appreciate that statement. "Apparently Tenzin and Unalaq are skeptical, but I'm going to meet her. I have to know."

Senna was frozen like a glacier for a moment as she processed what he said, before she nodded. "I'm coming with you."

+BotRL+

Zaheer stood at attention with the other Chi Blocker Elite of the Equalists as Amon paced before them with sinister grace, his expression hidden behind his mask. He spoke with absolute confidence. "This airbender girl is a potential problem. People think she could be the Avatar, when it is clear to all who see the truth that the time of the Avatar is past. Those who sought her out all those years ago may have hidden themselves and the Avatar with them, but this has allowed people to see the truth, that the Avatar can be stopped."

He stopped and Zaheer could tell that Amon was looking intently at each of the Chi Blockers before him. "So long as people hold out hope that the Avatar can help them, will help them, they reject the necessity of what it takes to truly set this world right. That bending itself must be eliminated. Already many see the truth in part because of the visible absence of the icon of this vile world order, but we must make sure that the Avatar remains gone. Our triumph is inevitable, but if they remain without her, or someone they claim to be her, then they will break much more easily. In doing so, we will spare the lives and suffering of so many who believe in the cause by ensuring that the corrupt do not have themselves an Avatar to inspire hope that their evil can withstand us."

Amon's eyes settled on Zaheer. "You will bring me this airbender girl in time for my grand reveal, and she will be yet another false hope for the benders that seek to preserve their precious status quo. I do not want her to gain the legitimacy of a public defeat, so that they can have themselves a martyr. Do I make myself clear?"

Zaheer bowed. "Of course, sir. The airbender won't even know what hit her."

+BotRL+

A/N: If you're wondering what's up with Korra, keep in mind that in LoK season 1 Aang was giving Korra visions. This is just the same, so if it helps you can picture what Aang's doing as the past life equivalent of shouting in Korra's ear.

+BotRL+


	3. Part 3: Growing

**Replies to Reviews: **Thanks for the positive feedback! Here's the next chapter. Things will really start heating up, and I think you'll be able to tell why by the end of this chapter.**  
**

_**Part 3: Growing**_

Korra looked around at the plaza upon which they had landed. It was paved with white stone and along one side a covered walkway connected two buildings, all of which were white with blue roof decorated with gold trim. Trees and bamboo grew along the sides of the island's rocky plateau and the promontory on the other side of a small cove. Its design had a certain simple beauty to it that resonated with some part of her, but that feeling lasted only a moment as they landed.

Korra quickly jumped off, a part of her looking to escape her prior introspection. She had seen four White Lotus sentries positioned around the compound on the way down, but she expected that there were likely more inside one of the buildings. She knew that the White Lotus weren't going to attack her, and even if they did, there was no way that they would win, and so force herself to quickly relax.

The others quickly followed her down, with Ming-Hua beating even Master Tenzin to the ground.

"Welcome to Air Temple Island," Tenzin said, gesturing to the surrounding compound. "Over there is the airbending training area on the other side of the temple," he said, pointing, "and over there is the White Lotus sentry building. We didn't need it before, but unfortunately with the Equalists and some other groups becoming more active in their attacks on civil institutions and other important locations we've had to upgrade security."

"I didn't think the Equalists were that big a threat," Mako said. "I haven't heard anything about attacks in Republic City."

"Not in the city itself," Tenzin agreed, "but there have been increasingly numerous attacks against government officials and buildings in the frontiers of Republic City territory as well as all across the Northwestern and Western Earth Kingdom. It's only a matter of time before they start making strikes against Republic City itself and we airbenders make a unique target due to our low numbers. There are some that feel that resurrecting our culture is a waste of resources when during the Great War there were many local Earth Kingdom and other cultures that were also effectively destroyed by the Fire Nation's colonization efforts. Sadly it's true. For instance, the Patolan people were fishers and herders who lived in the islands of the Southern Air Temple. When the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nation, they ended up displacing most of those people and now there's even less left of their own history and traditions than of ours because most of their stories and history weren't written down." He scowled. "Not that the Equalists actually seem care about fixing that sort of thing, but both they and the Earth Kingdom use it as a talking point." He shook his head. "I'm wandering off topic. The point is I'm an important man here in Republic City and the world since I'm the leader of the Air Nation such as it is. Even if I and my family live here, the Air Nomads technically hold sovereignty over four major island chains," he continued. "One of which you hail from, Kya. Apparently, this makes me a target for the Equalists and others."

"Others?" Bolin asked. He gasped. "Are they secret assassins trying to overthrow _the world_?"

Ghazan let out a solitary chuckle and Ming-Hua's demeanor became positively icy.

"Don't be ridiculous Bolin," Mako said. "I'm sure that's not it at all." He looked askance at Tenzin.

Tenzin coughed. "We don't _think_ so. So far they've been hard to track. They've been consistent in targeting figures of authority and items of monetary or historical value though, particularly those involved in or somehow related to the current unrest in the Earth Kingdom. These are the subject of ongoing investigations, but suffice it to say that they either want war between Republic City and the Earth Kingdom, or its overthrow so that they can wage the war themselves."

"So I'm right!" Bolin proclaimed excitedly, thrusting a hand in the air in triumph. At Mako's withering glare his hand dropped. "Well, mostly anyway. But still!"

Korra noticed a man wearing the blue and white uniform of the White Lotus walk out of one of the buildings and come towards them. She could see his eyes take in the group, lingering on Ghazan, Ming-Hua and her in turn. The way he looked at her reminded Korra of veteran Red Lotus members, or more recently Chief Beifong. What could he tell about her? Her deception worked with the Police Chief, but would it hold up in a White Lotus stronghold? Well, base anyway.

"Hello, Master Tenzin," the man said, "Who are your guests?"

"Ah, hello Captain Long," Tenzin replied, identifying the apparent leader of the local White Lotus under Tenzin's command. "These are Mako, Bolin, Genji, Ming and last but not least Kya, our new found airbender."

Bolin waved and said "Hi," while Mako, Ghazan and Ming-Hua gave nods of acknowledgement.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Captain Long told them with a short bow, though his eyes seemed focused on Ming-Hua. "Please feel free to relax. While unsavory elements may be targeting important people and infrastructure in the surrounding area, my people and I will allow nothing of the sort to transpire here on our watch."

"Good to here," Ming-Hua replied, returning his gaze, "but you don't have to worry about us. We know how to take care of ourselves."

"How fortunate to hear," Captain Long replied evenly before turning to Master Tenzin, who now seemed uneasy. "It's late and Misses Pema insisted that I make sure you had some dinner."

Bolin's stomach rumbled. Rubbing his stomach, he said, "Dinner sounds good to me. What are we having? Seafood?"

Tenzin gave him an incredulous look, as did everyone else save Mako, who put his face in the palm of his left hand, and Captain Long, who laughed.

"No," Captain Long said as soon as his laughter was under control, though Korra could hear it ready to break free again, "Airbenders are vegetarians, everything we eat here are vegetables grown on the island with some rice, naan or pickled vegetables shipped in to spice things up occasionally."

"Yes," Tenzin agreed, annoyance still evident in his voice before he visibly calmed himself. "And, since this is a special occasion, I was thinking that we could break out the naan with fruit chutney."

"I don't think I've had that before," Korra said truthfully.

"Well, I think you'll enjoy it. Of course, it's for desert, so we'll have a proper meal first," Tenzin replied as he waved the others to follow him to a particular building which was connected to its neighbor by a covered walkway. "I was actually about to sit down to eat when I learned you were at the police station giving your statement, but I imagine the rest are still eating."

"That they are sir," Captain Long agreed. "I'd have let them know you had arrived, but I thought our guests could use some breathing space until they've gotten a chance to take things in."

"Hmm, yes." Tenzin glanced back at Korra and explained, "They can be very energetic sometimes, especially Meelo."

As they walked, Korra spotted blue and white shift in the windows of the pagoda in the center of the island and in the window of the building attached to the one they were headed towards. Korra looked again at where the four guards had originally taken their positons. They had been arranged around the plaza so that they could each converge on the landing area without getting in each other's way and the guards in the windows, however many there had actually been, had been positioned to ambush from above and provide support to the four below. Captain Long had kept the children away while his guards had taken up positions to attack anyone who had come with Master Tenzin to the island.

Was it an ambush for her specifically? No, that didn't make sense. After all, they didn't, couldn't know for certain that she was the Avatar, and even if they did know who she was and set up an ambush, why wouldn't they have attacked then? The most likely conclusion was that they were trying to do their professed duty and protect the Tenzin and his family from anyone with ill intentions.

However, the way Captain Long had looked at the Ghazan, Ming-Hua and Korra, and kept his eyes on the other two still, seemed to resonate uncomfortably with her earlier questions.

Putting those thoughts aside, Korra looked to Mako and asked, "So, how are you feeling about your game tomorrow?"

Mako shrugged. "About as well as can be expected. I'd have liked for us to have more time to train, but with the Equalists being more active in the Earth Kingdom and the outskirts of Republic City there's more uncertainty. Something's stirring up the Triads too. With all the uncertainty, the managers need their money sooner than we'd thought so we've had to split our time between our matches and doing whatever jobs we can find." He gestured at Bolin. "_He_ wanted to be a street performer before I talked sense into him."

"And look how well that turned out," Bolin retorted. He paused and then immediately corrected himself. "Well, I suppose it did, I mean, I got to meet you Kya!"

"Thanks Bolin, it was nice to meet you too," Korra replied, happy at the comment.

"Aw, thanks Kya!"

Ghazan cleared his throat as he seemed to suddenly be behind Mako and Bolin.

Bolin let out an "eep" and jumped into the air, using his earthbending to reflexively launch himself away from the formidable man.

"Good reflexes," Ghazan commented as though nothing particularly strange or noteworthy happened. By his standards it hadn't. Korra had gotten used to him ambushing her through walls in order to 'help her train her reflexes.'

Ming-Hua nodded. "Sharp kid. I guess there's a reason you team's managed to do as well as it has."

"Yes, we train as much as possible," Mako blithely replied as they reached the entrance to one of the buildings.

Korra could see another two White Lotus sentries inside, as well as several people in oranges and yellows of airbenders. At one table was a pregnant woman and three children, two were girls of around ten and perhaps seven or eight and one was a boy who looked to be few years younger than the second girl, so he was likely around four or five. Of course, these were guesses as Korra herself wasn't that experienced with how children looked as they aged, she had been the only one at the Red Lotus base.

Everyone looked up from what they were doing when Tenzin walked in. Korra caught Captain Long move one of his hands out of the corner of her eye, but it was too quick for her to tell precisely what it was. She did however note that the two White Lotus sentries slouched against the walls behind them where they stood, apparently relaxing. The only thing off about their seemingly casual stances was the way their eyes remained focused on the five newcomers to the exclusion of all else even as the pregnant woman and her children got up.

"Dad!" the children cried out as they ran over to meet him, using their airbending enhanced speed to propel themselves faster than even the most hyper of non-airbender children.

Tenzin spread his arms to greet them, sweeping them into a hug as their mother, Pema, walked over. "Sorry I'm late, but I brought company." He gestured to Korra and the others. "They wanted to try some genuine Air Nation cuisine. May I introduce you all to Kya," she waved at them, trying to hide how the situation set her on edge, "the newly discovered airbender, she came to Republic City to see the world with her companions, Genji," he said hello, "and Ming," she nodded at them and smiled with knife edged smile, "and she ended up saving this young man's life."

Bolin nodded. "Yep, without her I'd have been a _bit_ of trouble. Name's Bolin by the way, this is my brother Mako," Mako gave a small wave and said hello, "and this is Pabu! Together with our waterbender Hasook, who isn't here right now, we are… _the Fire Ferrets_!"

"I knew I recognized you somewhere," Captain Long said. "You're the ones that beat the Usanagis last month, right?"

"Yes, that was us!" Bolin agreed excitedly. "It was a difficult battle against overwhelming odds, but through our courage and perseverance we triumphed!"

"They also fouled a few times, but we beat them fair and square," Mako agreed.

"It really came down to the wire, the last match, could we beat them?"

"We were in the lead at that point actually."

"Mako," Bolin objected, "you're making it sound like it was anything other than the match of the century!"

"Right, sorry."

"Don't worry about it Mako, I'm sure Captain Long here already knows, right?" Bolin asked as he sidled up to Captain Long.

"Of course," the White Lotus Captain amicably agreed, "I'm glad I bet on you." He glanced at Tenzin, who was giving him a level look. "If I were a betting man, that is."

"Hi, I'm Jinora. So, you're the airbender?" the oldest girl asked Korra, putting that line of discussion to an end.

"Yes," Korra confirmed.

"Awesome!" the boy exclaimed. "Are there other airbenders out there too?"

"No, not that I know of," Korra replied. "It was just me in my village. I don't even know if any of my ancestors were airbenders or not. If they were, it was probably a long time ago."

"Oh," Jinora said, disappointed.

"Come, show us what you can do!" the boy exclaimed in excitement, not letting the news get him down.

"Meelo, we just got back and none of us have had a chance to eat," Tenzin chided. "She can show us what she learned how to do later."

"We just sat down actually," Pema said from where she stood next to her husband, "though we weren't expecting so many." She turned to one of the people in Air Nation robes. "Lao, would you mind fetching some more food for our guests?"

"Not at all, ma'am," the man replied with a bow before he turned and left through another exit.

"Let's sit down while we wait," Pema said. "I don't think my husband introduced us, so I'm Tenzin and these are our children Jinora," who gave a short bow, "Ikki," who waved brightly, "and Meelo."

Meelo held out his hand to Korra, affecting solemnity and failing, "Pleased to meet you."

Korra smiled and shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you too."

With that, they settled down to eat.

+BotRL+

Mako looked around the tables that they had pushed to gether so that everyone in the dining hall could eat and speak to each other. He and Bolin hadn't worked with Triads since they had managed to join the Pro Bending circuit, but that didn't mean that his old skills had left him. He knew there was tension in the air, both from the White Lotus and from Kya's two companions.

He was missing something, he knew that, but he wasn't sure what.

At least Kya seemed nice enough and the Air Nation food was surprisingly good.

"So, Mako, how do you expect to do in the next match?" Captain Long asked, cold eyes locked on his own. That man seemed an odd mix of relaxed and cautious. Mako hadn't seen people like that often, but either on the streets or in the arena they were the ones most threatening because they could and would attack at any moment without holding back.

He seemed similar to Genji and Ming in that respect.

"We're up against a good team, but we're better," Mako replied.

"Good to hear. So you're not worried at all?"

"Why would we be?" Bolin interrupted. "We're the best team there is, isn't that right Pabu?"

Pabu looked up from the lettuce he was chewing on to chitter in agreement.

"See, even the wild animals agree with us," Mako joked.

"Excuse me? Pabu is not wild," Bolin objected indignantly. "He is the height of sophistication!"

Pabu chittered angrily and threw his piece of cabbage at Mako, who caught it and charred with his firebending. He then threw it back to Pabu, who caught it and started nibbling on the charred cabbage.

"See? Wild," Mako replied with a smirk.

Kya chuckled, followed by the others at the table.

Bolin harrumphed, folded his arms and shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you Mako, provoking him like that." Pabu chittered in annoyance and shook his head as well.

Everyone broke out into laughter, Genji gwafing and Kya's laughter rang through the room.

After they had calmed down, Mako asked Kya, "SO, what was your village like?"

She shrugged. "Quiet mostly. We did some work with farming gardens, but mostly I spent my time training and reading."

"Training?" Bolin asked. "I thought you only developed your airbending in your teens."

"Oh, well… My father Zaheer taght my how to fight without bending before that, and once I learned I could airbend I started practicing that as much as possible."

"How did he teach you to fight? With or without weapons?" Captain Long asked.

"Both," Kya replied. "He wanted me to make sure I could take care of myself in any situation. Though, admittedly I'm not that good of a fighter without using bending."

Genji chuckled in a way that made Bolin shudder. "You could say that."

"Sometimes I'd spar with Genji or Ming without bending, for practice," Kya explained. "…I learned how to dodge…."

"A valuable life skill," Ming stated.

Mako nodded. "True, if Bolin and Hasook were better at dodging our team would be performing better."

Genji grinned joyfully and Ming's mouth stretched in a smile reminding Mako of the time he'd seen a tigerbear while in the country. "We could help with that," Ming suggested softly.

"Since you're friends of Kya, we'd be happy to help out while we're here," Genji agreed cheerfully.

Mako was already having a bad feeling about it.

"Um," Bolin said uncertainly, "I don't know. With our match tomorrow and our jobs and the matches after that… I think we're kind of busy."

"Oh come on," Kya pleaded, "it'll be fun. Promise."

Mako was certain she was lying through her teeth.

"I don't know…" Bolin equivocated.

"Please, I want to see how I do against probenders," Kya requested.

"Well…okay," Bolin finally agreed.

_This is going to end badly_, Mako thought to himself. Still, at least it would be entertaining. He hoped.

+BotRL+

"Thank you, the food was delicious," Korra told one of the Air Acolytes, an old woman who had helped serve the extra dishes that Lao had gone to retrieve.

"Oh, it was nothing dear," the old woman replied as she picked up dishes from the table along with Lao and a few other Air Acolytes, "I'm just glad we had a chance to help another airbender."

"Yes," Lao agreed, "it was a pleasant surprise to meet you. I do hope you'll stay a while, and perhaps even visit the Northern Air Temple when you return home. I'm sure Abbot Wan would love to meet you."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Korra agreed. When the old woman took Korra's cup, Korra said, "You don't need to take that. I can clean it." It didn't sit right with her to let them work without her. Backat the Red Lotus base, they had stressed that people shouldn't be masters of each other and should not be forced to be subservient to others. Making the Air Acolytes take care of that menial labor seemed like just that.

"Oh, don't worry about it dear," the woman replied. "I appreciate the offer, but you're our guest and you're settling in tonight after your first day in the big city, relax, have some fun. If you end up staying here awhile, then you can help out, okay?"

"Okay, thank you," Korra told them earnestly.

"You're welcome, but like Mai said, we don't mind," Lao agreed with a smile. "No shoo, we have dishes to clean."

Korra nodded to them and looked over to Ghazan and Ming-Hua, who were standing just slightly apart from Bolin and Mako's discussion of probending with Captain Long and one of the White Lotus sentries. The other was leaning against the wall behind Korra and idly watching Ghazan and Ming-Hua.

Tanzin walked up to Korra and said, "It's rather late, but there's still time for a tour if you want."

"I want to see her airbend!" Meelo declared, running up to them.

"Yeah," Ikki agreed, "if you don't mind."

Korra shrugged. "Sure, I'm up for it." She looked over the airbenders, wearing their traditional clothing. "Well, I imagine that you're all better at it than me since I only really learned it recently and everything since has been self-taught."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, and of course we'd be more than happy to teach you," Tenzin assured her.

"Okay, thanks," Korra replied.

"You're going out to show off your airbending?" Bolin asked. "Cool! Come on Mako, let's see what she's got!"

"Sure," Mako agreed.

"That sounds entertaining," Captain Long agreed.

"If you don't mind," Lao spoke up, "we'd like a chance to see you bend as well. It'll take us a bit to clean up though."

"Not at all," Korra replied.

They all made their way out, save the Air Acolytes who were cleaning the dishes. They crossed the island over to a tiled area with a Yin-Yang symbol in the center.

Korra walked up to the yin-yang symbol while the others formed a loose semicircle around her. Seeing them all watch her intently made her slightly nervous, but she pushed past it. She was the Avatar, and she had learned airbending by herself. So what if it wasn't the most impressive airbending they'd ever seen? She could – no, _would_ – get better.

Korra took a deep breath and slowly let it out, relaxing as she did so. She turned away from them, then she crouched and leapt into the air, pulling the wind up with her to carry her farther. Landing in a roll, she spun her arms around herself, pulling in a spiraling wind that helped propel her to her feet so that she could spin, sending out a blast of air out around her before bringing her hands together to send out an air blast which blew the leaves off of some of the bamboo stalks at the edge of the training area.

Korra turned back to the group to see them clapping.

"Woo! Go, Kya!" Bolin cheered alongside Meelo and Ikki.

"For someone who is self-taught, and only learned about their ability just a few years ago, that's very impressive," Tenzin complimented.

Mako nodded. "Good job."

Korra smiled at the compliments and asked, "Hey Mako, you said you wanted to prepare for your match tomorrow right? How about a spar?"

"Ooooo!" Meelo and Bolin ooed, looking expectantly at Mako.

"Gonna let a girl get away with challenging you like that?" Ghazan asked.

Ming-Hua cleared her throat.

"You're not a girl- ow!"

Mako raised an eyebrow at Bolin before looking at Korra and shrugging. "Sure, why not?"

Korra nodded and they moved to opposite sides of the semicircle of onlookers so none of them were in the immediate line of fire, literally and figuratively.

Bolin held up his hand in the air. "Ready?" he asked in a serious tone. Mako and Korra nodded. "Begin!" His hand dropped and the spar started.

Mako didn't waste any time, firing twin blasts of fire with his fists, which Korra managed to divert by spinning to the side and pushing the fire away with a gust of wind.

She couldn't use anything but airbending, so she couldn't stomp her feet to pin him in the earth. Instead, she twisted her upper body and whirled her arms around clockwise, sending wind sweeping through the air towards him. It wasn't enough do anything more than inconvenience him, but that was her intention. She hoped it knocked some dust into his eyes, he was covering his face with on hand and using the other to spray fire in her direction. With a flourish to finish the gust of wind, Korra dodged and slipped around his blast of fire to close the distance.

As soon as the wind died down, Mako's hand came away for his face and he was rapidly blasting bolts of fire at Korra while carefully moving to the side, his stance remaining solid.

Korra leapt up, throwing her hands forward to send an intense blast of air at him and it was forceful enough to make him take a step back.

In reply he swept his hands towards her, sending out streams of fire, but she gestured to the ground and the wind pushed her down and out of the way. Rolling to her feet she leapt to the side and out of the way of Mako's renewed stream of fire bolts.

One of the bolts hit the ground right where her foot was about to land, sending her stumbling.

It was enough for Mako, who leapt towards her and pulled back his fist, crawling with fire.

Seeinghim coming, Korra had to resist the urge to knock him back iwht her own firebending, and by the time she started airbending it was almost too late. Almost.

She spun counterclockwise, sweeping with her hands and the air answered her call, knocking him aside with its force to send him rolling across the ground.

She sprung after him, sweeping her hands up above her head and then down at him as he tried to get up, powerful winds knocking him back to the ground.

She landed on his back and grabbed his hair with one hand and held back her other in a fist. "Ready to give up?"

Suddenly he bucked and Korra found herself in the air, twisting around to see what he was doing, she was in time to see Mako spinning on one shoulder, fire spiraling out of his feet. She batted away the flames and landed in time to see him curled up on his back with his feet in the air before he kicked out towards her with both legs, an intense cone of fire rushing towards her. Korra spun to the side, summoning a whirlwind to protect her, but beofer she could complete the motion a concentrated blast of fire hit her, going through her protective current of air and knocking her off her feet.

While she was in the air she felt another impact of a fire bolt on her left leg, causing her to spin slightly. She used this to land on her feet and spin her legs in a powerful blast of air that went out in a horizontal disc all around her.

She knew about explosions from P'Li's explosion bending training, and she knew that the most important part of the explosion's effects was the concussive force created.

Before she could finish her train of thought, she saw that Mako had ducked under the blast and was sending a wave of fire along the ground at her. Korra pushed herself off of the ground and into the air, punching out with a directed air blast which Mako managed to counter with a defensive fire burst as he stood up.

Explosions projected their concussive force through air. Korra stretched her hands out to either side as she reached the peak of her airbending assisted jump. Mako punched out with both hands, but Korra was able to bring her hands together faster and harder.

A deafening boom rolled across the island and sent Korra tumbling through the air until she hit the bamboo that lined the training area. She spluttered for a moment before her training with the Five kicked in and she immediately leaped clear of the bamboo, ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice.

Mako was sitting on the ground, rubbing his head. Everyone had been knocked back except for Ghazan, Ming-Hua and Pema, who had been cushioned by water tentacles from Ming-Hua.

Korra landed back on the lines that surrounded the yin-yang symbol.

She looked at the others and saw Ghazan give her a thumbs up while smirking.

"So, uh, did I win?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"WHAT?" Mako asked loudly, "ALL I CAN HEAR IS RINGING."

"WHAT HAPPENED? DID KYA WIN?" Bolin asked loudly as he sat up, his head in his hands.

Mako turned to Bolin and asked, "DID YOU SAY SOMETHING BOLIN?"

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

"WHAT?"

"WHAT?"

Korra flushed with embarrassment and backed away.

+BotRL+

It was late and night had descended upon the city. Yue Bay was lit up by the light of both the eternally active city and Yue herself. After everyone had a chance to compose themselves after the match and Ming-Hua had looked over Pema and scolded Korra for her carelessness, Tenzin had insisted that it was too late for them to spar again and Mako had agreed after he recovered his hearing. Therefore Korra and her companions had been shown to their rooms.

Captain Long had posted sentries around the male and female dormitories as precautions. However he only had a few people and they had to take shifts, so only four were on duty while the moon hung high in the sky overhead.

They kept watch as best they could, but it was not enough to keep a shadowy figure from slipping into the female dormitory unnoticed.

+BotRL+

Ming-Hua always slept lightly, and always kept water with her so she was not caught off guard when a shadow slipped through her door.

"Ming-Hua," a familiar voice whispered.

She turned her head to look at him. "Zaheer?"

"Tonraq and Senna are on their way here. This obviously cannot happen. Unalaq and Jian will be arriving in two days to watch in your place. You know what to do. Agents will be meeting you at Rhinobadger Point, standard protocols."

She sat up. "They'll have the scheduled course?"

A sealed tube was tossed at her and a knife thin water tentacle was called up in an instant to catch it. It quickly pried the top off the tube and pulled out the papers within.

"You have one day to get there, and three more to intercept."

The smile that spread across Ming-Hua's face was predatory. "Anything else?"

"It's an accident, obviously."

"How tragic."

"Quite. Good night, Drowner."

+BotRL+


End file.
